


Lucy the King of Heroes

by GilgameshKOH



Category: Fairy Tail, Fate/stay night (Visual Novel)
Genre: Crossover, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2018-09-09 16:09:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 159,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8898751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GilgameshKOH/pseuds/GilgameshKOH
Summary: What if after his defeat in the Fate route Gilgamesh was reincarnated? What if he reincarnated as Lucy Heartfillia with both his memories and access to his Gate? How would Earthland deal with a girl struggling between herself and her past life as the arrogant King of Heroes? What if others had reincarnated as well?





	1. The Fairy Tail

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please constructive criticism only.

**AN: Ok, so the first few chapters of the fic are very similar to canon but I promise they start diverging more and more later on. Also if Anyone can think of anymore tags that they think apply to this fic then please don't hesitate to tell me, this is my first time posting AO3. I decided to start uploading here because for some reason I can't upload any new chapters on FF.net. So I'll probably upload some of my other fics here too. ****  
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The old shopkeeper was currently looking at his newest customer and she sent shivers down his spine. Long hair flowing down past her waist and an unamused look was upon her face. She was wearing an open black jacket, white tube top and black jeans.

“So you mean to tell me that there's only one magic shop in this entire town" she demanded glaring at the shopkeeper with her crimson coloured eyes.  
The woman was nearly nineteen years of age, but one never would've guessed it by looking at her. Her name was Lucy Heartfilia and she'd come here to Hargeon seeking something. Lucy Heartfillia

She left her father’s mansion after he dared to try to arrange a marriage for her in order to get more money for himself, even though Lucy herself already attracted wealth naturally. The only reason she hadn’t simply skewered him was because she was certain her mother wouldn’t wanted that. Plus he was an idiot, he'd come crawling back eventually, he was decent businessman but without her he would sink himself eventually.

Ever since she was little Lucy had been different, her eyes were just one small thing and they made no difference. But whenever she talked to people she found that they became fearful of upsetting her no matter how gentle she tried to be in the beginning, as if just making her upset would mean their death. 

Because of this the servants were reluctant to spend time with her beyond what was necessary. This resulted in Lucy looking down on others, she couldn’t help but look down on others, the children who came to ‘play’ with her ran from her the moment they saw her power. Many were simply uncomfortable just being in her presence, and eventually they all came up with excuses as to why they couldn’t come again. It only proved that anyone she encountered was likely undeserving of being allowed in her presence. 

So Lucy spent as much time with her mother as possible, because her father only cared about the business and how much money Lucy could attract for him. He discovered that every decision she suggested to him always made lots of money and after mother died he became even colder to her if when it came to anything unrelated to business.

It was her mother to whom she had shown her ability to pull things from her Gate of Babylon. Her mother to whom she’d confided her memories of her past life as Gilgamesh the King of Heroes. Yet even after listening to her and watching her use Gate to summon weapons, and other things her mother still understood her. She was patient, kind, caring understanding. Unlike the many others that had run away from her at the first chance.

Ever since leaving her Mothers death Lucy had a feeling of incompleteness inside of her. Like something was missing, which was strange seeing as she had everything anyone could want inside of her gate. So she travelled Fiore for the past year seeking something, anything that could make the feeling go away. But nothing seemed to work, most of what she tried were, quick fixes at best.

Then for some reason Lucy had talked to a strange man a few weeks ago in another town. He was a tall, muscular man with shoulder-length orange hair and a stubbly beard, and for whatever reason she spoke about her problem to him, after proving to him that she had all of the worlds treasures in her Gate she asked him ‘What does one who has everything a person could want in possession possibly seek?’ After a while he had asked if she had any friends.

She thought on her answer for a while, her father was cold, uncaring so she did not count him and her mother was dead and the friend her past life had didn’t count either. In the end she replied with a negative. He suggested that she try joining Fairy Tail and trying to make some friends there to see if that helped. So Lucy decided to take his advice and left.

Unfortunately she had neglected to ask the man where Fairy Tail was located. This was why she found herself wandering Fiore searching for Fairy Tail now. That and her pride as the King of Heroes would not allow her to ask for directions, it would wound her pride too much to admit even to herself that she had no idea where she was going. That was how she found herself in Hargeon Port

"Y-yes. This is more of a fishing town than a magic town." The shopkeeper explained nervously. This girl….no woman set off all of his danger senses as if angering her would be a death sentence "Not even a tenth of people here can use magic, so I built this shop to sell magic to the wizards who happen to be passing through"

"So you mean to tell me that I came all this way for nothing?" Lucy glared

"No, no, no please take a look!" The shopkeeper reassured her. "I do have all the latest goods in stock I’m sure there’s something you want."

"I'm looking for gate keys" the blond said in a demanding tone “Do you have any?” 

"Gates keys, why yes I think I do" The old man frowned. "That's a rare request." He reached behind the counter top and brought out a box containing a single, silver key.

"Canis Minor, Nikora" a gleam entered Lucy’s eyes one that scared the shopkeeper even further. 

"That one's not powerful but it’s all I have.” the shopkeeper stuttered 

"That's not important." Lucy glared at the shopkeeper taking hold of the key and turning around to leave.

“W-wait you have to pay for tha-”

*Shunk*

Before the shopkeeper could finish a sword had buried itself into the counter and had partly gone right through its point was near his crotch, any further and he would have been castrated. He looked up and saw several golden ripples in the air behind the girl who was now scowling at him with a disdainful look on her face. She walked up to him and the atmosphere became even more dangerous, the shopkeeper was cursing himself for what he’d said instead of just letting it go.

“I am the one true king of the world” she growled “It is the law that all of this world’s treasures belong to me. Gate Keys are no exception that law. That makes you merely someone who was holding my treasure. The fact that you dare to charge me for what was mine in the first place makes you a filthy thief. Do you wish to learn how I deal with thieves?”

Weapons of various sizes, shapes and types began protruding out of the ripples all pointed at him; all of them began shuddering as if in anticipation of being used against the target of master’s ire. 

“Wait, wait, wait” the shopkeeper exclaimed in a panicking tone “I just remembered that key is free. Yes its free, please just take it but don’t hurt me.”  
Suddenly the weapons all dissolved into golden sparkles as did the one in the counter and the ripples disappeared as well. The woman seemed satisfied with his answer and he internally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Just one last thing. You’ll keep this to yourself unless you want me to ‘visit’ you again right?” she said as she was silhouetted by the light steaming in from outside after she’d opened the door.

The shopkeeper nodded rapidly and the woman finally left satisfied. He decided it was probably better for his health if he just pretended that this never happened. He had no desire to see that woman again if he could help it. 

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

After leaving the store Lucy smirked happy that she’d acquired yet another gate key, she put the silver key away in her treasury for later. She came to a stop on a bridge and saw below, a crowd had gathered in the town square a short distance away; a horde of squealing women crying out in adoration. As the blonde wondered what the reason behind them making such noise was, two more women raced past them, also crying out in delight.

"The famous wizard is here!"

"It's Mr. Salamander!"

"Salamander eh?" Lucy raised her eyebrow "If my information is correct then he’s Fairy Tail wizard. I wonder what he's doing in this backwater dump. Looks like he’s not averse to fan girls, I it seems that he’s a real show off. I need to have a talk with this Salamander"

The crowd’s incessant fan girlish squealing grew louder as Lucy leapt from the bridge and descended to the ground; turning more and more intense as they approached. She approached crowd which parted like the red sea before her after she released some of her incredible aura. Apparently whatever they saw in Salamander hadn’t dulled their sense of self preservation. Eventually she head of the chaotic cries swelling the air around them. Occasional bursts of fire from the centre of the crowd accompanied delighted squeals from the fan girls.

"Mr. Salamander!"

"You're so dreamy!"

"And so hot"

Finally, she got through the crowd and saw him, and when she did Lucy was not impressed. At all. Standing in the centre of the fan girl who were swarming like insects, was the man that everyone kept calling Salamander. Purple hair, dark eyes, and ridiculous outfit that made him look like a he was a runaway clown. And for some reason every girl in this dump were becoming rabid over him. Hearts seemed to pulsate where their eyes should've been, love struck by the clearly idiotic poser of a mage standing before them.

It was only when he decided to pose for the women again that Lucy caught sight of his secret. She could see a ring of his index finger which was clearly charm magic ring and his middle finger had a ring with sleep magic. 

“A fake just as I thought” Lucy snorted with annoyance “If there’s one thing I hate its fakers”

If she was correct then this man was likely charming the girls so he could lure them to another location later for another purpose. The sleep magic ring was likely for anyone who saw through the charm magic. Lucy was about to unleash her fury on him when a voice interrupted the commotion. 

"Igneel!"

Lucy watched as a pink-haired boy forced his way into the clearing, shattering the tension and derailing her plan. His visage crumpled in disappointment when he caught sight of the man. The boy looked as though he'd just had a weight dropped on his shoulders. She wondered who Igneel was, she’d never heard of such a person. 

"Who the heck are you?" The boy asked 'Salamander', frowning at him in clear disappointment

"I am Salamander, surely you’ve heard of me before?" the purple-haired mage grinned cockily. 

The pink haired boy didn’t even acknowledge him and was already halfway across the street before faker could continue. 

"Hey wait?!"

Lucy chuckled as the women pounced and began beating the pinkette for ignoring the man.

"Now now, that's enough my lovelies let him go. I sure the poor boy didn't mean anything malicious by it." 'Salamander' said pacifying the crowd and extending his signature toward the boy and causing his fan girls to return to admiration mode. Lucy was amused; this pink haired boy was good for a laugh at least.

"Here's my autograph kid. Now you can brag to all your friends." The faker held out an autograph toward the source of his ‘fans’ agitation.

"No thanks." Then pink-haired boy deadpanned at what he was being offered.

 

The purple-haired mage faltered, but recovered as his rabid fans smashed the boy into the garbage causing Lucy to laugh openly, something she hadn’t done in a very long time. 

“I guess it wasn’t him after all” the blue cat said apparently able to speak, which also caught Lucy’s attention. 

“Definitely not him” The boy groaned painfully.

"Well, I’m afraid I must be going ladies I have business to attend to, so I must be off."

“You’re leaving already?” The charmed crowd asked as one, like the hypnotised fools they were.

The fake snapped his fingers and he was standing on a spiralling column of flames "I'm having a soirée on my yacht tonight and you're all invited!" And with that he was gone; he had ridden his flame across the horizon and out of sight.

As crowd dispersed Lucy could see the pink haired boy talking to his cat, she kept her eyes on them for a moment. He seemed good enough for a laugh so she decided she’d  
[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

Lucy had decided to take the jester and his cat to a nearby restaurant to eat and let them order whatever they wanted. Natsu consumed as much food as he could while Happy helped himself to some fish.

"My name Lucy," Lucy introduced herself uncomfortably, not used to trying to be courteous to others. But if she was going to make friends she may as well practice on these two idiots. “Now name yourselves"

"I’m Happy" Happy said “And this is Natsu”

"Thanks a lot," Natsu said to Lucy "You’re scary but nice."

"You two might want to slow down before you choke on that food" Lucy told the two "Or before I might make you choke on it"

The seriousness of her tone immediately caused the two to slow down as they were reminded of a certain red haired swordswoman. 

“So besides entertaining me what did you two come to this town for?” Lucy asked curiously “Weren’t you looking for someone named Igneel?" 

"Yeah, that's right," Happy replied.

"We heard a rumour that a Salamander was going to be coming through town, so we came to see him," Natsu explained. "It turns out it was somebody else."

"Yeah, that guy didn't look like a Salamander at all," Happy agreed.

"No kidding," Natsu said. "I bet that poser can't even breathe fire like a real dragon."

"You two might want to slow down before you choke on that food" Lucy told the two "Or I might make you choke on it"

The seriousness of her tone immediately caused the two to slow down as they were reminded of a certain red haired swordswoman. 

“So besides making me laugh, what did you two come to this town for?” Lucy asked curiously. 

"We’re looking for Igneel" Happy replied.

"We heard a rumour that a Salamander was going to be coming through town, so we came to see him," Natsu explained. "It turns out it was somebody else."

"Yeah, that guy didn't look like a Salamander at all," Happy agreed.

"No kidding," Natsu said. "I bet that poser can't even breathe fire like a real dragon."

"You’re friend Igneel looks like a dragon?" Lucy asked, silently questioning the sanity of the duo.

"No you’ve got it all wrong. He doesn’t ‘look’ like a dragon. He is a dragon." Natsu explained

Lucy’s eye twitched as she pictured a large, fire breathing dragon in her mind. 

"Aye! Igneel is a real live dragon." Happy insisted  
Lucy’s eye twitched even more dangerously, she could only take so much stupidity at once, so her instincts took over. Her hands grabbed each of the two idiot’s heads tightly.

"You two" Lucy whispered dangerously at them while slamming their heads into the table “Are complete imbeciles, why would a dragon come to a small town? And wouldn’t you have seen this dragon before you even got here”

After they recovered Natsu and Happy stared at Lucy for a long moment as the realisation sunk in.

“You two idiots are just realising this now?” Lucy growled now having the entire restaurant as audience. 

She stood up and rubbed her temples to try and stave off the oncoming migraine. She tossed some money onto the table to pay for their food.

“Whatever” Lucy scoffed “Enjoy the rest of your meal fools”

"Thank you, ma’am please come again." A waitress said as Lucy began to take her leave. The waitress froze and causing Lucy to sigh with annoyance look behind her.  
Natsu and Happy were on the ground, bowing to Lucy in appreciation. 

"Thank you for the food" Natsu said expressing gratitude 

“Thank you" Happy parroted.

“Stop this idiocy at once! You're embarrassing me!" Lucy yelled in fury.

"I feel bad though because we weren't even trying to make her laugh" Natsu said to the blue feline.

"Aye. We owe her something"

"That's it!" Natsu yelled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Salamander signed paper. "Here this is for you"

Lucy glared at him before sending him crashing into a wall by sending a pair of finely ornamented war hammers at the two, after which she promptly stormed out.

“Mongrels” Lucy growled as she slammed the door shut.

“Man I hope she doesn’t ever meet Erza” Natsu groaned as the war hammers dissolved into golden dust “The two of them together would be a level of scary I don’t want to think about”

“Aye” Happy groaned in agreement.

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

“Looks like Fairy Tail is causing trouble again" Lucy commented as she read the latest Sorcerers Magazine in the park. "Devon bandit clan wiped out, but seven homes destroyed? Do these jesters know the meaning of the word overkill?" 

Lucy chuckled to herself as she read the article. She flipped the page which showed Mirajane wearing a bikini.

"But how exactly does one join Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked herself. "Do you have to interview or apply. I really should have asked that person about that."

Lucy closed the magazine and began glancing up at the clouds that hovered in the sky “That man said that I should try Fairy Tail, it can’t hurt to give it a try I suppose.”

"So you want to join Fairy Tail?" a voice came. Lucy looked up at the source which was a bush.

"You’re that faker from earlier" Lucy said as ‘Salamander’ came out of the bushes.

"I was looking for you." He said unconcerned with the insult. "I wanted to invite you personally to the party on my ship." 

"Your Charm magic won’t work on me" Lucy stated as she could practically feel the man pouring magic into the ring. "That magic's weakness is awareness! It doesn't work on people who know its being used!"

"Just as I thought.” Salamander sighed. “I guessed that you were a wizard the moment I laid eyes on you. No matter, the invitation still stands."

"There no way I'd go!" Lucy declared as she turned away from him. "Not to a party thrown by a mongrel like you!"

"A mongrel. Why would you call me that?" Salamander asked apparently hurt by her words.

"Using Charm magic to make yourself popular?"

"Don’t be mad my dear it’s all in good fun." Salamander said. "I just wanted to feel like a celebrity at my own part can you blame me?"

"It’s almost hard to believe that a famous wizard like you is such a moron." Lucy sighed with annoyance, this idiot was getting a bit too familiar. 

"You wanted to join Fairy Tail, yes?" Salamander asked smirking at her with boyish charm. "Haven't you heard of Fairy Tail's Salamander?" 

“Are you claiming to be Salamander?" Lucy asked while mentally rolling her eyes.

"That's right." He answered. "If you want to join, I'll put a word in with the Guild master."

"Your party sounds interesting, but will it meet my standards?" Lucy asked while trying to keep her anger from showing at his familiarity.

"Oh, I’m sure you’ll be real surprised" Salamander said.

"So you can get me into Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked hardly believing a word of what was being said.

"Of course. But in return, keep quiet about the charm, okay?" he proposed.

"Very well" 

"We shall meet again at the party, then!" Salamander added before he conjured up his Red Carpet and flying away.

"Alright then the first step to Fairy Tail" Lucy muttered to herself. "And if he’s fake, which is most likely, then I’ll just pump him for any info on Fairy Tail that he might have and punish him for his insolence."

Lucy sat down and sighed putting her hand on her chest.

“I’ll soon see if Fairy Tail can help me fulfil my mother’s last request” she sighed to herself 

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

There were times when Lucy truly hated being right and this was one of them. Apparently this Salamander was running a slaving operation. He used charm magic to attract girls to his boat then he used sleep magic to subdue them all and went off to Bosco where he sold them off. A tidy little operation and if she were like the rest of these girls then she probably would have been fooled as well. However she was not like the rest of these girls and despite being surrounded by these thugs and despite her keys being thrown overboard she was far from defenceless. 

“So you’re a slaver who has to resort to using Charm magic to get your merchandise” Lucy said “I’d call you petty criminal but comparing mongrels like you to petty criminals would be an insult to petty criminals”

“Oh scathing I’m wounded” Salamander said with smug sarcasm “But a Celestial Wizard is useless without their Gate Keys everyone knows that”

“Unfortunately for you I’m not your average Celestial Wizard” Lucy responded with a grin crossing her lips.

She prepared to use her Gate to teach these fools a lesson they’d never forget; however before she could she was interrupted by something smashing through the roof. After the smoke and debris cleared away, Natsu was revealed glaring at the slave traders and Salamander.

“The dragon seeking boy what is he doing here?” Lucy asked just as surprised as the slavers

Suddenly the boat rocked back and forth causing Natsu fell to his knees and turn green. 

"As I thought, this was a bad idea" Natsu groaned holding a hand to his mouth

"Another fool just as I thought" Lucy scoffed.

"Hey what are you doing here Lucy?" Happy asked flying just above the hole that Natsu had made with his entrance.

“I was information gathering but it would seem that all there is here is a mongrel and his lowly pack” Lucy explained 

“I’ll give you lift out ok” Happy reply swooping down and wrapping his tail in a knot around her “Hold on”

“No need” Lucy simply leapt up onto the railing and jumped taking Happy with her. Out of a golden ripple emerged a golden and emerald ark. The Vimana, as Lucy took a seat in the  
throne it began flying away with Happy still in tow.

“After them” Salamander ordered from below “We can’t let them report this to the Magic Council” 

"Prominence Wind!" Suddenly Salamander unleashed a barrage of purple fire from his magic. The Vimana simply dodged the magical attack which converged and exploded like a firework. 

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

The Vimana came to a stop a fair distance away from the ship.

“Alright this should a sufficient distance” Lucy mumbled as a Key appeared in her hand of her Gate as thanks to storing the Keys in her Gate when she acquired them she could summon them at will by sending them back to the gate. "Open! Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!"

Lucy put the key into the water and a beautiful mermaid woman with light blue hair and wearing a blue bikini appeared out of a tornado made of water.

"A fish!" Happy shouted as his mouth watered.

"Not a fish " Lucy said smacking Happy on the head.

"That was awesome," Happy said impressed.

"This is the power of a Celestial Wizard," Lucy said to Happy. "Whenever I use my Gate Key's, I can summon other spirits from other worlds to help me and Aquarius is my strongest spirit currently"

“Ah….L-lucy how can I help you?” Aquarius asked with nervous look on her face.

" Aquarius!" Lucy told her. "I want you to push that ship back into the port using your water magic and try not to damage the port or any of the people."

Aquarius gulped and hesitated for a second.

“Do you have something you wish to say Aquarius?" Lucy asked looking at the spirit sharply causing her to flinch.

“N-nope nothing at all” 

Aquarius started to use her water magic and created a gigantic wave to send the yacht back to the port. Lucy watched the wave carry the ship right into the shore, after it did she followed and dismissed her Vimana and landed on the beach surveying the wrecked ship. 

“Your work is sufficient, thank you Aquarius you may leave now” Lucy said dismissing the spirit who gave a sigh of relief as she returned to the Spirit World.

Aquarius’s fear didn’t come from Lucy being abusive in fact she had never once abused her Spirits. It was just that ever since her mother Layla had introduced her to the little girl she felt like she was being overwhelming by an aura of power and sovereignty that seemed to emanate from her. 

It was that aura that demanded respect and fear and the fact that it came from a child had shaken Aquarius to her very core. If hadn’t known any better then she’d have thought she was looking at the Spirit King. She had on several occasions witnessed what Lucy was capable of when she used the Gate of Babylon. For example Layla had once summoned her to stop a group of kidnappers attempting to take her and Lucy from the Heartfilia estate and they were unfortunate enough to get to Lucy first.  
Layla and Aquarius arrived just in time to see them torn apart by a hail of weapons from the Gate of Babylon; each weapon was old and possessed unique powers. It was then that Aquarius’s fear of Lucy began to develop. 

Meanwhile 'Salamander' and his gang pulled themselves together and found themselves being confronted by Natsu, who had serious look on his faces. Lucy and Happy watched to see what was going to happen.

"So you claim to be a member of the Fairy Tail guild?" Natsu questioned.

"So what's it to you?" Salamander asked “Go get him men.”

“Sir” two of the thugs nodded and charged at Natsu.

“Does he need any help?” Lucy asked the cat.

"Don’t worry about him" Happy told Lucy. "I probably should have told you this earlier but Natsu is a wizard as well."

Lucy was genuinely surprised by this because Natsu didn’t come across as someone who was particularly powerful.

“Well then lets see what this knucklehead can do then” Lucy chuckled

Two thugs came charging at Natsu, but he simply punched them out.

"My name is Natsu!" Natsu told Salamander. "I'm a Fairy Tail wizard! And I've never seen you before!"

"That Mark on his arm" one of Salamander's men said. "This guy is the real deal Bora"

“Don’t call me that you fool” the now named Bora yelled nervously.

"I know that guy.” Happy said suddenly “He's called Bora the Prominence. Rumour has it he was kicked out the Titan Nose Wizard guild a couple of years ago because of bad behaviour."

"I have no idea what you're trying to do here buddy.” Natsu said approaching Bora “And I don't care if you're a good guy, bad guy or what. I'm not going to let you dirty the Fairy Tail guild's name!"

“And what are you going to do about it? Stop Me?” Bora laughed “Prominence Typhoon” 

Raising his hand, Bora unleashed his 'Prominence Typhoon' magic. A magical vortex of flames that aimed straight towards Natsu. 

"That's the way it goes.” Bora laughed as the flames engulfed the boy. “The bigger they talk, the weaker the man."

"Ah, this is gross," Natsu complained still alive inside the flames, shocking Bora and his gang. "Are you sure you're really a Fire Wizard. Because these are the nastiest flames I've ever tasted."

Bora and his gang couldn't believe what they were seeing with their own eyes. Natsu was actually eating the flames like they were nothing. They watched and screamed in horror. 

"Thanks for the grub, poser." Natsu said with a grin

"What's going on here? Who is this kid?" Bora shouted apparently freaked out.

"Fire magic doesn't work on Natsu." Happy explained 

"Interesting" Lucy said with a smirk

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu shouted after getting a stance and blowing out a gust of flames at Salamander and his gang. Some of them got hit while some of them dodged the flames.

"Hey Bora I swear I’ve seen this guy before, the pink hair and scaly looking scarf. There’s no doubt about it he’s got to be the real one"

“So Natsu is the real Salamander? Is he?” Lucy asked herself “This just gets more interesting by the second”

"I hope you guy's are paying attention, because this is what a real Fairy Tail wizard can do! Here I come!" Natsu shouted, as flames erupted from his hands, ready to take on Bora.  
Natsu flew right towards Bora and punched him with a flaming fist. 

"So Natsu eats fire and then attacks with it?" Lucy asked Happy. "But just what kind of magic allows him to do that?"

“He has dragon lungs that allow him to breathe fire, dragon scales to help him dissolve the fire, and dragon claws for attacking with fire. His brand of fire magic is one that his body to take on all the qualities of a dragon. It's an ancient spell that's rarely used anymore." Happy explained

"Now isn’t that interesting," Lucy smirked 

"This particular magic was originally used to deal with dragons," Happy continued. "It's called Dragon Slayer Magic. Igneel was the one who taught it to him."

Natsu decided to step in and swallowed the ball of fire as his power increased even more.

"Now that was a hefty meal!" Natsu grinned. "You're not doing to bad. But I’m about to cook you like a smoked fish!"

"You're going to do what to me?!" Bora yelled with fright.

“Get ready” Natsu shouted, "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

Natsu charged at Bora with his flaming fist. Finding himself cornered, the fake Salamander was hit in the face and was sent flying. He bounced off several buildings, one of them being a certain magic shop before he hit the bell tower knocking him unconscious.

"He was certainly entertaining that was for sure" Lucy chuckled "However the idiot overdid it. He destroyed an entire port and fifteen houses."

"Aye," Happy replied.

That was when they heard somebody coming. They realized it was the army coming to investigate the scene and the damage.

“It seems the army is coming” Lucy sighed shaking her head

"Come on! We've got to get out of here!" Natsu said grabbing Lucy and running as fast as he could

"Let go of me you mongrel what do you think you’re doing?" Lucy demanded, sorely tempted to skewer Natsu. “Who gave you permission to touch me?”

"Just come on," Natsu insisted "You said you wanted to join the Fairy Tail guild, didn't you?"

"So let's go," Natsu said to her

Lucy sighed and calmed herself; she decided to just roll with it. Her past self was easily offended but his arrogance was ultimately his undoing and she had no desire meet an end because of it. So for the sake of trying to change she let her anger go.

The two of them and Happy bailed out of town going towards their next stop: The Fairy Tail Guild.

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

Over at the magic council known as ERA, they had recently received news of the damage caused by Fairy Tail in the port town of Hargeon.

"Those fools from Fairy Tail have gone and done it again. This time they've destroyed an entire port town."

"What is the matter with them?"

"I'm actually quite fond of those dimwits and their laissez faire attitude."

"They may behave like fools, but we mustn't also forget, they're an extremely capable lot."

"Yes, that's true. They present quite the quandary."

"I think we should leave them be. After all, if it wasn't for those fools, think how boring this world would be."

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

Natsu, Lucy and Happy arrived stopping in front of the Fairy Tail Guild.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail," Happy said.


	2. The King, the Bull and the Ape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail  or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.  
> **  
>     
> AN: Those of you who have read this over on FF.net may notice some differences, I can't help myself I'm finding things I don't like and rewriting them to the best of my limited ability so I apologise to those who don't like this. ****  
> [------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

"We made it back alive!" Natsu shouted kicking the doors of the guild hall open.

"We're home," Happy announced.

Everyone inside waved or shouted greeting to Natsu and Happy, welcoming them both back to the Guild.

Lucy looked around Fairy Tail and saw there were quite a lot of people.  

“So I heard you went all out in Hargeon, Natsu” Krov said. “You just had to go starting trouble…"

Natsu abruptly kicked Krov in the face angrily.

"You lied about that Salamander!" Natsu yelled at Krov. "I'm going to kick your butt!"

"Don't get mad at me!" Krov told Natsu. "I'm not the one to blame here! I'm just passing along a rumour I heard!"

"It was just a rumour?!" Natsu shouted.

"You want to fight!" Krov shouted back.

"Let's go!"

Before Lucy knew it a fight erupted between Natsu and Krov. However, Natsu sent Krov flying and in seconds nearly everyone in the guild had started to fight each other.

"So he really is just a hot headed fool" Lucy shook her in disbelief.

"Now, now, Natsu, I think you need to calm…"

Before Happy could finish his sentence, somebody smashed into him, which in turn caused him to go flying through the bar like a pinball.

"So this is Fairy Tail is it?" Lucy said quirking an eyebrow and gazing at the brawling fools sceptically.

Getting up from his seat was a pretty talented ice wizard named Gray Fullbuster, who also he had a bad habit of taking off his clothes.

"So Natsu finally made it back, huh!" Gray shouted. "It's time we settle thing's once in for all!"

Sitting at the bar nearby was Cana Alberona, the woman who held the title of Fairy Tail's heaviest drinker; she was also the first to notice the Gray was walking around in his boxers as usual.

"Gray, your clothes," Cana told him.

"I don't have time for that!" Gray yelled at Cana before looking around for Natsu again.

"Now you see why I don't date the men here because they have no class or brains." Cana sighed to herself and took a whole barrel of beer and started chugging it down causing Lucy to chuckle.

 "Come here and fight me Natsu!" Gray demanded kicking a table.

“Not until you put some clothes on” Natsu yelled back as he was wrestling with Krov.

“It’s only noon and you boys are already whining like spoiled babies” a voice said.

The owner of the voice was Elfman; he was a large, muscular man with tan coloured skin stepped forward. He had long white hair kept styled upwards in long, wavy spikes, dark eyes that possessed no visible eyebrows and a rectangular, elongated face has a stitched scar running down its right side, crossing his right eye. He had a black Fairy Tail stamp on the left part of his neck.

“I’m a real man do you want me to prove it you?” Elfman said flexing his right arm.

He was promptly sent flying by fists from both Gray and Natsu at the same time.

“Butt out Elfman” they both said in unison

“Yeesh are all the men in this place a pack of morons?” Lucy wondered to herself.

Lucy then noticed another young man with spiky orange hair and sunglasses who was flirting with two women at the same time. She also sensed something off about him but couldn’t quite place it.

"Jeez, it's so noisy in here, huh?" the young wizard said, as the girls sighed dreamily.

This young wizard went by the name of Loke. He’s ranked high on the eligible wizard's bachelor list.

Suddenly, Loke was hit in the face by a small piece of wood, which of course made him angry.

"Are you all right?" one of the girls asked.

"I'm going to go fight," Loke said continuing to flirt with the girls. "But only to protect you two."

"Good luck, Loke" the girls said to him in unison.

"He looks like he’ll need all the luck he can get" Lucy chuckled not seeing how someone like that could be strong “But there’s something about him..."

"Hello. Are you new here?"

Lucy turned around saw a young attractive white-haired woman that she recognised instantly.

"You’re Mirajane, right?" Lucy asked.

“Yep that’s me” Mirajane replied with a sweet smile

"Don’t you want to stop these fools?” Lucy asked “Because with the damage they're causing, they could bring down the entire place,"

"It's always like this around here, I'd just leave them alone" Mirajane replied with smile her suddenly being floored as her own brother was smashed into her "Besides, it's kind of fun don't you think…"

Gray was thrown right towards Lucy, falling on top of her. Natsu laughed when managed to snatch Gray's boxers from him, leaving him stark naked.

"Give me back my underwear jerk!" Gray yelled demandingly.

"Excuse me, Miss, can I please borrow your underwear?" He asked apparently serious.

"Mongrel!" Lucy yelled punching him and sending him flying across the room

"These guys are so insensitive. A woman has needs and…" Loke said grabbing Lucy and holding her in his arms.                                                                                                                 

Elfman suddenly interrupted Loke by punching him causing to drop Lucy who managed to land on her feet.

"Real men speak with their fists Loke!" Elfman yelled.

“I told you to butt out” Natsu said kicking Elfman away just as Lucy was considering doing the same thing, as much as Loke’s flirting was unwanted she hated being dropped even more.  

“Aye” Happy said

"So much for having a drink to relax. That's enough you guys. I suggest you knock it off!" Cana sighed as she got ready to use her magic to stop the fight.

"Oh, yeah," Gray said, challengingly, readying his ice magic. "Says who?"

Elfman let out a battle cry as his right arm took on a rocky appearance

 "You punks can be such a nuisance." Loke sighed preparing his ring magic.

 "I'm ready for you!" Natsu said forming fire around his hands.

Lucy shook her head and looked at Happy.

"Do they always fight like this?" She asked the blue cat.

"Yep," Happy replied.

The fighting came to a stop when a gigantic shadow stormed.

"WOULD YOU FOOLS STOP BICKERING LIKE CHILDREN?" It yelled furiously

As soon as the gigantic shadowy figure came in, everyone stopped fighting.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were still here, Master," Mirajane said.

“So this is the master?” Lucy asked unintimidated  

"Man, talk about what a bunch of babies.” Natsu laughed with an idiotic smile on his face “Looks like I've won this round…"

The Master of Fairy Tail promptly stomped on Natsu, effectively shutting him up.

Noticing Lucy, the Master said, "Well, it seems like we have a new recruit"

"Yes that would be me" Lucy said unintimidated.

The Master began changing as he deflated like a balloon. The Master went by the name of Makarov and was in reality a small old man.

"Nice to meet you," Makarov said, greeting himself to Lucy

"So this is the one in charge around here?" Lucy asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Of course he is," Mirajane said. "Allow me to introduce the Fairy Tail guild Master, Makarov."

Makarov jumped upstairs and stood looing down at his children. Although everyone already knew it was another lecture on the trouble they caused, yet again.

"You've gone and done it again, you bunch of clods!" Makarov shouted. "Just take a look at how much paperwork the magic council sent me this time! This is the biggest pile of complaints yet!”

"Gray it’s good that you rounded up that ring of smugglers. But afterward you stumbled around town in the nude and in the end you wound up stealing somebody’s underwear right off the line and running away with it."

"But I couldn’t keep running around naked!" Gray mumbled in embarrassment.

"You shouldn't have been naked in the first place," Elfman told him.

"Elfman!! While performing bodyguard service for a VIP you attack that self-same VIP"

"He made a crack about how ‘a man is only worth as much as his education’ and before I knew it…" Elfman replied quietly

"Cana Alberona. You drank fifteen full kegs of liquor at a certain tavern, falsely claimed it as ‘expenses’ and worse sent the bill directly to the council."

"So they found out?" Cana sighed.

"Loki, you seduced the granddaughter of a Senior Council member. Also we’ve been sent an invoice for damages at a certain talent agency."

"And Natsu,” Makarov slumped in dismay “In bringing down the Devon Bandit Clan you destroyed seven private homes!!!, You brought down the Tully Village’s historic clock tower, the town of Freesia’s church is completely destroyed, you damaged a section of the Lupinus Castle!!!, the Observation station at Nazuna Ravine is closed due to Wanton Destruction, and YOU LEVELLED HALF OF THE PORT AT HARGEON!!!"

"Have you all lost your minds! All you kids are good for is getting the higher ups mad at me!"

Everyone remained quiet as Lucy wondered what Master Makarov was about to do next.

"However," Makarov said, as he burned the pile of papers, much Lucy's surprise. "I say to hell with the magic council."

"Now, you all listen up! Any power that surpasses reason still comes from reason, right? Magic isn't some kind of miraculous power. It is a talent that only works when the flow of energy inside of us and the flow of energy in the natural world are in perfect synchronization."

"To perform magic, one must have a strong mind and the ability to focus. It should take over your being and pouring out of your soul. If all we do is worry about following rules, then our magic will never progress. Don't let those blow hard’s on the council scare you. Follow the path you believe in, because that's what makes the Fairy Tail Guild number one!"

Everyone in Fairy Tail cheered at Master Makarovs proclamation. It was because of him that most of them became the people that they are now. Lucy raised an eyebrow and wondered if Fairy Tail could be what she needed to become someone different from her past self. Not that she would associate with just anyone, after all the companionship of weaklings hardly mattered, no she’d have to find the strong in this guild and see what hanging around them would do.

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

Later on, Mirajane then put the symbol of the Fairy Tail stamp on the back of Lucy's right hand coloured gold.

"There," Mirajane said. "Now you're an official member of the Fairy Tail Guild."

Lucy refrained from acting like a school girl, at receiving the mark.

"Thank you," Lucy said. "Well Natsu, I have the guild mark now"

"Oh, yeah, that's cool," Natsu replied, ignoring her. "Welcome to the guild Loopy"

"My name is Lucy!" Lucy let out a breath to keep calm, reminding was trying not become like her past self, who would have lost his temper right then and there.

Natsu was busy looking at the request board of which job to take since he currently had no money.

"Make sure you pick one with a big reward, Natsu," Happy told him.

“Amend your mistake, mongrel” Lucy demanded with growl

"Woah, 160,000 Jewels just to get rid of some thieves." Natsu said ignoring her.

"Sounds good to me," Happy said, feeling taking care of thieves seemed like a simple job.

Lucy’s anger reached its peak and before Natsu knew it a grip that he’d only felt from a certain red haired swordswoman clamped onto the back of his head.

“Hey what the big-OOOFFF” Natsu found his face planted into the wall where it was held for a few seconds before being pulled out but still held in  her grip.

“So what’s my name again?” Lucy asked with a twitching eyebrow.

“Lucy, sorry” Natsu groaned

“Good” Lucy said with satisfaction and released him from her grip and took a seat at the bar.

"How come my dad hasn't come back yet?" A young voice asked Makarov

"You're staring to work my nerves, Romeo.” Makarov said with a sigh “You're a wizard's son. Have faith in your father and wait patiently for him."

"But, sir, he told me he'd be back in three days," Romeo protested "And he's been gone for over a week now."

"If I remember correctly, he took the job on Mt. Hakobe," Makarov said.

"That's right and it's not that far from here!" Romeo said to Makarov desperately "So why won't somebody go look for him?"

"Listen, kid, you're old man's a wizard!" Makarov replied casually waving him off. "And like every other wizard in this guild he can take care of himself. Now go home, have some milk and cookies and wait!"

"JERK!" Romeo shouted as he punched Makarov in face and ran out. "I hate you all!"

Lucy ignored the scene; it wasn’t her problem what happened to the weak was it? So why should she care at all if one man could take care of himself?

"I know it sounds like the Master doesn't care, but he really is worried.

Natsu suddenly punched the board began running

"Hey, you almost broke the board, Natsu!" Nab told him.

Natsu ignored him however was quickly out of Fairy Tail, clearly intent on looking for Macao

Nab stood next to the Makarov and said, "This doesn't look good Master. You know how he can be. I bet he's going to Mount Hakobe to save Macao."

"When is that guy ever going to grow up?" Krov wondered.

"Who knows," Nab said. "Going after Macao isn't going to do anything except hurt his pride."

"Enough, Nab," Makarov told him. "Just remember, we can't choose another's path. Just leave him be."

"Mira, why did Natsu get upset?” Lucy asked finding herself interested in knowing a bit more about him.

"Probably because he and Romeo have a lot in common" Mirajane said. "I think he see's himself in Romeo. Just because we're members of Fairy Tail doesn't mean we all have our own personal issues. We've all had our fair share of suffering and loss."

Lucy chose to ignore the situation and was about to order a drink when she thought she heard a familiar voice whispering her name.

‘ _Lucy_ ’

She turned to look at the guild entrance and stared at for a few seconds before widening her eyes. Standing near the entrance smiling at her was a translucent image of her mother who smiled before vanishing. No one else in the guild gave any indication of having seen her.

“Damn it mother” Lucy grumbled “Why must you make things difficult for me?”

With that Lucy stood up and decided to follow Natsu and Happy, if only to silence her Mothers nagging memory.

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

 

The next day, Natsu and Happy made their departure for Mt. Hakobe, with Lucy accompanying them.

"Why'd you come with us?” Natsu asked apparently his motion sickness had caught up with him again

"None of your business” Lucy replied as she thought back on what Mirajane told her about Natsu.

_"Many years ago, Natsu's father left and never came back. Well, technically it wasn't his real father. But the one who raised him, he was actually a dragon."_

_"So Natsu was really raised by dragon?" Lucy asked with interest_

_Mirajane continued. "When he was a little boy, a dragon found him wandering the forest. He took him in and taught him everything about language, culture, and magic. But one day, the dragon disappeared and never returned."_

_"So I take it that dragon was Igneel" Lucy said_

_"That's right," Mirajane nodded. "And Natsu lives for the day when he'll finally see Igneel again. It's kind of cute, don't you think?"_

The wagon cart they were riding in came to a stop indicating that the three had arrived at their destination.

"So we’re finally here," Lucy said

"Alright, we stopped moving!" Natsu shouted, relieved.

"I'm sorry, but this is as far as I can get you," the driver told the three of them.

As soon as they got down, the trio found themselves in a blizzard. Lucy began thinking; if she stuck with Natsu she might be able to meet this dragon Igneel. Then she could see if the dragons on this world were worthy of being called dragons or not when compared to the ones Gilgamesh had seen.

 “Alright so why did Macao come up here?” Lucy asked ignoring the blizzard “What was his mission”

"Apparently he came here to slay a Vulcan. It's a big monster." Natsu replied

“I see” Lucy said “Well let’s get going I don’t want be up here any longer than I have too.”

"Macao, where are you!" Natsu called out.

"Macao!" Happy shouted.

Natsu and Happy manage to jump out of the way when a Vulcan jumped out of the blizzard to attack, now they found themselves face to face with it.

"That's a big Vulcan!" Happy said panicking.

However, the Vulcan wasn't paying attention to the duo. It had its attention on somebody else. It then ran off towards the other direction.

The Vulcan headed towards where Lucy who had hung back a bit, and put its paws on her.

"Me like woman," the Vulcan said in a Neanderthal like manner.

"So it can talk, huh." Natsu said getting ready to fight

“You know there’s a line about dirty ape’s in here” Lucy said summoning a warhammer from her gate into her hands “But it’s clichéd and beneath me”

Lucy then swung it and smashed the Vulcan, sending flying towards the summit of the mountain. She watched it crash into what looked like a cave near the summit and quickly followed its flight path, hoping to resolve this ridiculous situation as soon as possible.

“Nice shot Lucy” Natsu complimented.

“Just hurry up” she called back with annoyance.

“How do you think she does that Happy?” Natsu asked

“I don’t know maybe she’s knows Requip magic like Erza does?” Happy suggested

“Move it you two!” Lucy yelled causing Natsu and Happy to snap out of their conversation and begin following her up the mountain.

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

 

“There you are you monkey” Lucy said casually as she walked into the cave “I have some unfinished business with you”

 

The Vulcan began leering at her after it had finished shaking the stars from its vision.

"Hey you big ape" a voice yelled from outside of the cave. The Vulcan stopped staring at Lucy and turned its attention to the voice.

"Where is Macao?" Natsu demanded as he ran towards them. “TELL ME!!!”

 Suddenly, he slipped on the ice, sending him backwards and spiralling away from her.

"Fool…" Lucy sighed and watching as Natsu got up. "You need to work on your entrances"

"Hey, monkey! Where's Macao?!" Natsu asked again.

The monkey looked at him with confusion.

"You can understand me, right? I'm asking about Macao, a human man." Natsu asked.

"Man?" the monkey said.

"That's right!" Natsu pointed his finger at him. "Where are you hiding him?"

The monkey made hand signs at Natsu, telling him to go over to the window.

"Oh, I think he’s going to show me." Natsu said. He followed the monkey to the large hole that in the wall.

 "Macao?!" Natsu called looking out of the hole before the Vulcan shoved him out of it and he fell into the ravine below.

"Monkey!" Natsu yelled as he fell into the snowy abyss below.

“Fool” Lucy sighed “You should have seen that coming”

Behind her, the Vulcan was doing a jig and beating its chest.

"No like man, me like woman!"

“He’ll be fine as long as that cat catches him in time” Lucy said shaking her head.

"Woman, woman, woman, woman." The monkey chanted beating its chest.

“Very well monkey, prepare to be crushed and I have exactly the spirit for this job” Lucy withdrew a golden key from her Gate and dismissed her warhammer. “Open, Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!"

Appearing near her out a flash of light was a large bipedal muscular cow that carried an axe.

"Cow?" the Vulcan said, confused.

“Well monkey lets see how you do against Taurus, who is the most powerful Celestial Spirit I have a contract with," Lucy told the Vulcan.

"Ooh, wow, Miss Lucy, I almost forgot what a nice figure you have. Why don't you come give me a smooch." Taurus said with hearts in his eyes

"Oh, yeah, and he's a pervert too," Lucy sighed pinching the bridge of nose in exasperation.

Lucy valued her spirits thanks in no small part due to her mother but Gilgamesh also contributed. The part of her that was Gilgamesh viewed them as loyal servants and enjoyed them and so despite their personality flaws, like Taurus being a pervert for example, she wouldn’t dream of taking her anger out on him simply for his pervy comments.

"No touch my woman!" the Vulcan bellowed.

"Your woman!" Taurus shouted. "Them’s fighting words you Moo-nkey."

"Get him!" Lucy commanded Taurus.

Taurus leapt into air and raised his axe then slammed it into the ground with all his might as he came down, this caused an ice quake to head towards the Vulcan. However the Vulcan quickly moved out of the way before it could hit him.

“That monkey is fast" Lucy said. “I wonder if I can slow it down somehow”

The Vulcan was about to pounce on Taurus, however luckily Taurus was prepared and began raising his axe to finish off the Vulcan.

However Lucy saw something coming and it was heading for Taurus. So before it could impact her spirit she grabbed it by its leg and slammed it into the ground using her considerable strength, unfortunately this turned out to be Natsu.

“Do, not, harm, my spirits, Got it?” Lucy growled out glaring at Natsu furiously.

 She hated it when her spirits were harmed, especially by idiots, especially ones who were supposed to be on her side.

“Yes ma’am” Natsu said nodded fearfully.

Taurus used the distraction that had gained the Vulcans attention to finish it off by giving it a slash to its mid section. There was a bright flash of light and it revealed a man who had been taken over by the Vulcan.

He was a slim man of average height with short, straight, slicked back dark blue hair was in front of them. He had linear dark eyebrows, dark eyes, and a prominent nose with a flat, rectangular front. The lower part of his face was covered in a large amount of stubble which included a thin moustache.

"Macao!" Natsu said, shocked that his guild mate was the Vulcan.

"So that’s Macao but how did he become that monkey?" Lucy asked

"The Vulcan must have done a Take Over." Happy said.

“A Take Over?” Lucy asked “That’s magic which is used to occupy someone's body”

"Yes that’s right Ms Lucy you see Vulcan's are monsters that live by stealing human bodies and taking them over." Taurus explained.

Picking Macao up from the rubble, they set him down and treated his wounds.

"It looks like he put up a good fight before being taken over though" Happy said, looking over his injuries

"Macao! Don't die on me!" Natsu yelled at the unconscious man. "Romeo's waiting for you! Open your eyes!"

"Natsu…" Macao mumbled as he opened his eyes

"Macao!" Natsu said, relieved that he had woken up “you’re ok”

"I'm so pathetic…" he said “I defeated 19 of those brutes but the twentieth, that’s the one that got me. I’m so angry with myself, I’m embarrassed to go home and face Romeo"

"Come on man don’t be like that you beat nineteen monsters" Natsu said. "You did great defeating that many!"

_'So there were more of those beasts?'_ Lucy thought. _'And this man defeated all but one of these beasts by himself? Despite his failure to complete this job by himself it’s not even close to being worthy of my respect, but it is noteworthy I suppose'_

"Now let's go home.” Natsu said with a grin “Romeo's been waiting for you!"

 [------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

Meanwhile back in Magnolia, Romeo was sitting on a staircase thinking about what had lead to his father vanishing.

_"Fairy Tail wizards are a joke Romeo."_

_"Yeah, everybody just knows that they’re a bunch of drunken cowards"_

_"I’m gonna be a knight when I grow up not some dumb wizard!"_

_"Yeah they’re dirty and they smell like booze!"_

_"Please Dad, go to the board and take a job!" Romeo begged his father. "I can't handle all this teasing anymore!"_

_"Sure!"_

Romeo wiped the guilty tears from his eyes.

"Hey Romeo!" a voice called.

Looking up, Romeo saw the new guild member Lucy along with Natsu and-

Romeo gasped in delight.

Leaning on Natsu's shoulder was his father Macao who was smiling as they walked towards him.

"Dad!" Romeo shouted as he hugged his father. "You came back I’m so sorry dad!"

"No I'm sorry for making you worry." Macao said to his crying son.

"I can handle it…because I'm a wizard’s son."

"The next time those bullies pick on you, here’s what I want you to say:" Natsu, Happy and Lucy started to walk away the father and son. "Can your old man defeat nineteen monsters all by himself? because mine can’"

Romeo grinned up at him.

Noticing that the others were leaving, Romeo shouted to them.

"Natsu! Happy! Thank you!"

"Sure thing!" Natsu shouted back.

"Aye!"

“Lucy, thanks for helping them bring my dad back to me!"

 

 

 


	3. Daybreak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.
> 
> AN: I apologise for any Spelling or Grammar mistakes that I missed. I chose to merge chapters three and four so I could get the Daybreak Arc over with as soon as possible.  
>  [------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

 

Makarov sighed wearily in his office as he looked at the heap of paperwork the Magic Council had sent him. Most was for the damages his children had done to towns and the various places and things that they damaged or destroyed during their missions, with Natsu being the worst offender for property damage as usual.

“Well better get this over with now or Mira will just nag me later”

So Makarov picked up a pen and pulled a form going on about Natsu’s damage to Hargeon port and prepared to sigh it when he heard a splashing of water. He looked up and out of a watery tornado a mermaid woman formed, she appeared to be holding a Lacrima of some sort in her hands.

From Happy’s description, this was most likely the celestial spirit Aquarius the water bearer. But what could she want? Well, there was only one way to find out.

“So what can I do for you, Aquarius is it?” Makarov asked silently thankful for a reason to not do his paperwork.

“You’re shrewd for an old man but I suppose I should expect nothing less from the master of a guild that Leo chose to join” Aquarius chuckled

“I knew Loke wasn’t human and this confirms it I suppose” Makarov sighed closing his eyes for a few seconds before opening one to look at Aquarius. “But I doubt you came here to talk about Loke, so what can I do you for?”

“Before that, there’s something you should know” Aquarius insisted “I’ve been able to use my key to cloud Lucy’s senses so she can’t detect Loke as a celestial spirit. If she were to find out she’d stop at nothing to acquire his key, and he’s been banished from our world by the Spirit King's order for breaking the law. If Lucy finds that out I have no doubt that she’d fight the Spirit King himself”

“Ah I see, you’re afraid she might get herself killed,” Makarov said

“Indeed but she might try to fight him anyway” Aquarius replied “You see Lucy is a girl who was born with frightening power. I imagine she might be able to fight the Spirit King but she would be defeated. You see her mother put a seal on Lucy’s full power. Here this Lacrima recording will explain better than I can. Her mother entrusted it to me in case Lucy were to ever leave home.”

Aquarius put the Lacrima on Makarov’s desk and vanished back to the spirit world. The Lacrima shone and the image of a woman with soft brown eyes along with long blonde hair done in a bun along wearing a long pink gown appeared.

“Hello there, my name is Layla Heartfilia” the image introduced itself “I don’t know who you are but if you are indeed watching this then Aquarius has given you Lacrima because Lucy has as I expected left home and joined a magic guild. I saw this coming but I wanted to tell you about my daughter. So you won’t confuse her for some sort of monster. I assure you that she may not seem like it but she is kind and caring and has a really big heart. So I implore to listen to what I have to say before you judge her.”

Makarov sat and set up a barrier at the door to prevent anyone eavesdropping before he continued listening to what Layla’s recording was saying.

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

After a while passed Makarov had left his office and sat down at the bar thinking about what he’d just heard. He saw that Levy and her friends were looking at the request board, looking for their next job.

"Oh, darn," said a young female wizard named Levi. "Did someone already take that book stealing gig?"

"Sorry, I guess Natsu and Lucy got to it first," Mirajane said.

"I really could have used that money," Levi sighed wearily

"Don't despair, it's probably for the best Levi," Makarov said. "Besides, it's changed."

"What do you mean?" Levi asked.

"I was just contacted by the client concerning that job," Makarov explained.

"Oh, did they cancel it," Mirajane asked.

"No," Makarov replied. "Quite the opposite. In fact, the reward has been increased. It's now 2,000,000 Jewels."

"2,000,000 Jewels?!" Levi said in shock

"They'd pay that much for some stupid book?" Droy asked

"That’s almost like fighting monsters kind of pay," Jet said.

"Did they give any reason why?" Mirajane asked Makarov.

Hearing this, Gray grinned and said, "It sounds like this job just got interesting."

"Oh, Gray, nice skivvies," Mirajane told him.

Gray freaked out, once again, as he took his clothes off, stripping down to his boxers, as usual.

 

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

Lucy had been convinced to take on this job by Natsu after appealing to her nature of not breaking promises which she took great pride in as a Celestial wizard. Of course, she was less than pleased about this and swore revenge on the two later.

So after a quick stop at a restaurant for something to eat Natsu, Lucy and Happy sat on the couch in front of their client who was a relatively tall and aged man with peach skin, grey hair and a small yet distinctive moustache above his lip. His eyes were closed, and he was wearing a tattered green suit with a red tie.

"My names Kaby Melon." he introduced himself “Please to meet you”

"He said Melon!" Happy said as drool dripped from his mouth.

"Oh man, you have a tasty name!" Natsu said drooling.

They both received a fist to head from Lucy who was still annoyed at the way the two had tricked her into taking this job with them earlier. 

"Shut it you two idiots your embarrassing yourselves and more importantly me" Lucy berated the two with annoyance

"Don’t worry I get that a lot" Kaby laughed.

 _‘His name sounds familiar'_ Lucy thought _‘But where have I heard it before?_

"Well first things first, allow me to tell you about the job," Kaby said.

Lucy’s eye’s narrowed, while Natsu leant forward slightly.

“Go on” Happy compelled him to continue

"It’s pretty straightforward really; Duke Everlue has a book called 'Daybreak' in his possession." Kaby explained “I would like you to burn it for me”

Lucy looked at their client with surprise.

 _‘200, 000 jewels... just to destroy a mere book?’_ Lucy pondered _‘There’s got be more to this than meets the eye’_

"No prob, heh, I can burn the whole place down if you want" Natsu offered, lighting a small fire above one of his fingers while grinning like a lunatic.

"He likes fire!" Happy said.

“It sounds like a lot just for destroying a book,” Lucy said mostly to herself. Out of the corner of her, she saw Kaby flinch at what she said, but not enough for Natsu and Happy to notice.

"For 200,000 jewels, who the hell cares?" Natsu said back not wanting to back down.

"The reward has been raised to 2,000,000 jewels." Kaby cut in.

Lucy and Natsu froze and widened their eyes, albeit probably for different reasons.

"2,000,000!" Natsu and Happy yelled

"Oh, you came here unknowing?" Kaby asked

 Natsu and Happy stared at the man with amazement.

"2,000,000 split three ways..." Natsu said, dazed. "Wow! I stink at math but that’s a lot!"

"Wait I got it: I get 1,000,000, you get 1,000,000 and Lucy gets all the rest!" Happy said, swirls appearing in his eyes from the shock.

"That sounds fair to me!" Natsu said, giving the feline a thumbs up.

"Aye!"

"Learn some maths you two dolts, there would be none left for me” Lucy yelled smacking both of them on the head.

This was all it took for them to settle down as they remembered that they were in the presence of their client.

"Is there any particular reason that you ?' Lucy asked.

"Well because it means that much to me. That book must be destroyed no matter the cost" Kaby explained. After a small silence, Natsu's head lit on fire as an eager expression crossed his face.

"Ah yeah, I am fired up now!" Natsu said. "Let's do this Lucy!" Natsu grabbed Lucy by her hand and ran out of the mansion at full speed causing her mantle to blow open, Happy was following closely behind.

"Aye!"

 _'He can't forgive the book's existence.'_ Lucy pondered ignoring Natsu’s audacity at laying a hand on her _'What did he mean by that?'_

Back at the mansion, Kaby sighed to himself hopeful that maybe this time that awful book would be destroyed.

"Daybreak." Kaby sighed leaning on his hands "It must be burned; it cannot be allowed to exist any longer”

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

When Lucy, Natsu and Happy finally arrived at Duke Everlue’s mansion, they had stopped to discuss the situation in the bushes.

“Lucy why aren’t you in costume?” Natsu asked, “How are you supposed to sneak in without it?”

“Because I refuse to wear a maid outfit” Lucy snapped back “I will not debase myself by dressing up as a maid.”

“You have pride,” Happy asked

“Shut it you stupid cat or I’ll turn you into a scarf” Lucy replied

“So how are we supposed to get the book then?” Natsu demanded with annoyance.

“Simple,” Lucy said standing up from the bushes and storming right up to the gate “We go right in through the front door”

“But the gate’s sealed shut” Happy pointed out

“Stand back and watch cat,” Lucy said as she stopped before the gate “A mere gate can’t stop me”

Beside Lucy appeared several weapons from the Gate of Babylon all pointed at the gate to the mansion. Natsu and Happy gaped in shock as the Gate crumbled before the onslaught of weapons and was completely destroyed.

 Lucy nodded in satisfaction and marched straight up to the front doors, Natsu and Happy quickly ran to catch up with her. They only just managed to get to her side when she kicked the door open and marched in like she owned the place.

 “Woah, I thought this was a stealth mission,” Natsu said, “We get in quickly, steal the book then get out.”

“Shut up!!” Lucy said promptly smacked Natsu upside the head “Let’s just find this book”

Natsu stiffened as he realised that Lucy was still upset and still just as scary as Erza.

“So let’s get a move on and search this place already” Lucy snapped with annoyance “I hate being tricked and your going to get it when we’re done with mission Natsu. So you better pray nothing happens on this job or you two are in for it got it?! ”

 “Yes Ma’am,” Natsu and Happy both said in unison

“Good now let’s hurry this up” Lucy snapped

Suddenly a group of four small ugly maids appeared bursting out the ground along with a much larger one who was unarmed.

 "Intruder alert Virgo!" they all yelled wielding metal poles.

 "Let's crush them, girls!" the huge maid named Virgo ordered.

 “Begone!” Lucy said sending them flying with a single swipe of one of her swords.

" **Flying Virgo Attack!** " The gorilla woman yelled as she jumped into the air and body slammed Natsu with her considerable girth.

“Natsu” Happy exclaimed worried about his friend.

Happy’s worry was unfounded as the large gorilla woman was suddenly lifted from the ground. Natsu was having some trouble lifting her but managed to throw her off himself and into the air. As she was coming back down, Natsu sent her flying with a kick sending her crashing to the ground.

“Well then,” Lucy said “Now that’s out of the way lets try looking in here”

Lucy pushed open a pair of doors leading to a gigantic library. All of its walls were segmented into bookshelves all packed full of books, some of which sported ladders to reach their upper shelves.

A large desk, semi-circular sofa which housed a round table sat in the centre of the room near the back and had two round lamps nearby.

"Man this place is full of books!" Natsu said in awe.

"Aye!” Happy added.

"It would seem that Everlue likes is a collector," She said. “Well then let’s look for the book”

"Wait I thought you said we have to beat him up first?" he asked shouted.

“Of course we do” Lucy replied “But if we take the book in our hands he’ll have no choice but to confront us in order to defend his property. Now then let’s get searching”

“Aye sir,” Happy said saluting

"How are we going to find one single book in this place huge place?" Lucy grumbled, as her hand passed over numerous books with different titles.

"Oh, this one has lots of pictures," Natsu said, looking through one of the books that he had found.

"Look there's a book on fish," Happy exclaimed.

"Look at this book," Natsu said, holding a golden coloured book. "It's sparkly."

"That’s the book we’ve been searching for" Lucy shouted, reading the title on the cover of the book.

She leapt down from the ladder and walked over to Natsu and Happy.

"We found it?" Happy said

"Seriously?!" Natsu exclaimed

“I expected it to be better hidden than this” Lucy mumbled “Something’s off here”

"Lets' burn it!" Natsu said enthusiastically lighting his fist on fire.

"Pretty simple, wasn't it?" Happy said.

Lucy looked down at the book briefly and caught the author's name of the book. She quickly grabbed the book from Natsu's hand forcefully, trying to make sure her eyes were not deceiving her.

"Wait a second this book was written by Kemu Zaleon?" she asked loudly

Natsu extinguished his flaming hand.

"Kemu?" Natsu asked, confused by the significance of the name.

"Zaleon was a great wizard, but also a novelist." Lucy explained, "I thought I’d read every book he wrote, but could this be an unpublished work?"

“So are we gonna burn it or what?” Natsu asked light another flame.

“Fool five that to me” Lucy demanded snatching the book away from Natsu “I’ve read ever Kemu Zaleon book ever written but I never even knew this one existed”

 

"I see, I see…" a voice boomed from around them. Lucy stepped back as the ground cracked and a short, plump, ugly man with skinny arms and legs sporting a curled moustache which directly protruded from his nostrils and a bushel of wavy hair atop his round head jumped out of the ground. "So you intruders are after Daybreak, are you?"

He landed on the ground and laughed in a way that sounded like 'Boyoyoyoyo'

"Couldn’t you have used the door?" Happy asked.

“I am Duke Everlue” Everlue chuckled introducing himself. "I knew all you lowlife wizard types were coming around here to take something of mine. I never would have guessed that it was that stupid book!"

“We’ll if you don’t want it then I’ll gladly take it off your hands-free of charge,” Lucy said

"No!" Everlue shouted like a child throwing a tantrum. "What's mine is mine!"

"Stingy bastard," Lucy grumbled

"Shut up, Ugly."

“Ugly you wouldn’t know beauty if it bit you in the behind fatass!! ” Lucy shouted back

"I’ve had enough! How dare you put your filthy hands on my possessions!" Everlue shouted, glaring at them all. He threw his arm into the air and did a dramatic pose. “Come forth Vanish Brothers!"

Two of the bookcases that they were looking in earlier suddenly opened up revealing it to be a secret passage with two people concealed within.

"You called upon us sir," One of the two figures said.

 This one's head was mostly shaved, but with a noticeably long, dark hair colour being present only on the back of his head, where it was tied into a braid reaching down below the man's back, with a light ribbon circling the end. He had dark slanted eyes, sharp features, prominent cheekbones, a dark-coloured upper lip and four kanji tattoos on his face; his right cheek bared the character for 'Right', his left cheek for 'Left', the kanji for 'Up' was placed in the centre of his forehead, and the one for 'Down' on his chin, right below his lower lip. His clothing consisted of a light tunic with a high collar, dark stripes on the loose cuffs and flanking the fastener crossing the chest vertically, a pair of mildly loose dark pants, getting tighter in correspondence to his ankles, and traditional dark shoes paired with light socks. The man also carried around an oversized frying pan as his weapon of choice; it possessed a noticeably long handle and was held on his back by a rope which passed over his right shoulder.

"Can you believe that these little punks are from the Fairy Tail Guild. Talk about a bunch of runts" The second one said.

The second one was taller than the one with the frying pan. He had long, dark and curly hair, which was arranged in a distinctive hairstyle, with four large, straight tufts jutting upwards on the top of his head, getting smaller near their outer edges. His face was squared, with a very prominent, mildly rounded and hooked nose, and his dark eyes were topped by a light bandana covered in spiralling dark motifs, obscuring his forehead and keeping his hair back. His outfit, unlike that of his companion, is a Western look, consisting of a dark sweatshirt, with slightly puffy sleeves reaching below his elbows, adorned by light, wavy markings on the shoulder and the sleeve areas and bearing three light, diagonal stripes on each side of his torso, simple light pants and light trainers.

"That sign means that they’re from the southern wolves!" Happy said pointing at the marks that the two possessed "They're a mercenary guild"

"So, you hired these guys?" Natsu asked, punching his fist. Lucy seated form, getting ready to draw out her sword at any moment.

"Seriously this book is…" Lucy breathed out amazed at what the book which she had taken the opportunity to read contained.

"The Southern Wolves are always hungry for fresh game" he said tauntingly, twirling his index finger and is thumb around his moustache. "Prepare yourselves."

"Natsu, keep them here," She said determinedly at she stood up, “ I think that this book contains secret of some kind, so I’m going to read it and find out what it is and I’d prefer not to be disturbed."

"Alright," Natsu nodded as she ran off through a door that was off to the side which closed behind her.

‘ _A Secret?_ ’ Everlue thought in confusion _'It must have slipped by me somehow, could be a treasure map or something'_ the ground beneath him began to lower him underground. "I’m going after the girl! Make sure he doesn’t leave here in one piece!"

"Yes, sir." They replied.

"Happy," Natsu said, turning to his feline friend. "Go on and take care of Lucy"

"Are you sure you don’t need me here?" Happy asked determinedly, but simply Natsu shook his head at the blue cat.

"No," Natsu flexed and cracked knuckles. "I'll be fine on my own."

Happy flew off after Lucy casting one last smile at his friend before leaving.

"You sure talk big for a little guy!" the taller Vanish brother said angrily.

"Perhaps we should put him in his place," The shorter brother said calmly. “So you’re a fire wizard."

"Yeah, But how did you know?" Natsu asked as he finished warming up to fight.

The shorter mage laughed. "We saw the fire around your legs when you were fighting Virgo, so it’s obvious that you’re an ability type, fire wizard"

"The blonde girl is a Holder-type. The blonde is a Requip wizard, isn't she? I’ve never seen Requip magic used like that before. The cat that flies is no doubt an Ability-type, Wings." The taller brother said.

"So I guess you know what happens when you play with fire,” Natsu said stamping his foot to the ground and lighting his entire body on fire. Fire swirled into existence around his hands. "You get burned!"

Natsu ran towards the brother duo with a flaming punch only for the attack to be thwarted by the smaller brother. He had used the large frying pan on his back to block Natsu's attack defend them both.

"Sorry to break it to you kid, but fighting Fire wizards is something we do well," The smaller brother said as he used his pan to throw Natsu back with a _clang_ from his frying pan. “Very well”

The taller brother jumped into the air and smashed his foot into the ground where Natsu had landed, but due to his quick reflexes, Natsu escaped from having his face crushed much like the ground where he had been lying seconds before.

The smaller brother quickly stepped over to them and prepared to hit Natsu with his frying pan again. It hit him, sending him crashing through the double doors that led to the lobby, where he landed on the tongue of a large, golden version of Everlue with his tongue pointed out as if he was laughing.

When Natsu landed, he turned around to see the Vanish Brothers on the railing.

"Fairy Tail might be a big time guild and all but you pathetic wizards are no match for trained mercenaries like us" The Taller brother taunted

"If that’s your best then you’re dead wrong" Natsu scoffed.

"Whoa, this kid really thinks he can beat us?!" the younger, taller brother shouted enraged.

"Do you happen to know what a wizard's greatest weakness is?" the smaller, older brother asked Natsu while leant forward on the railing.

"You’re talking about motion sickness!?" Natsu exclaimed

 "I think that might be more of a personal problem …" the smaller brother said sweat dropping

"Is he making fun of us?!" the younger brother demanded angrily.

"Their weakness is their bodies!" the older brother said. He jumped off the railing and attacked Natsu with his frying pan again, only to miss as Natsu jumped away. Instead of Natsu, the older brother broke the tongue off Everlue's statue. "Since Wizards have to focus so intensely on honing their mental abilities…"

Just as Natsu hit the ground, the other brother charged at him and punched the ground where he would have been, if it wasn't for his own quick reflexes.

"They neglect to train their bodies which leaves them physically weak" The taller Vanish brother continued.

As he landed Natsu and the smaller Vanish brother faced were now face to face and stared each other down.

"On the other hand, we focus on our physical abilities …" the older vanish brother said.

His brother landed next to him. "So we have more power and speed." He said.

"Oh, I am so scared!" Natsu said smirking tauntingly "Now stop your blabbing and let’s dance"

"Hey bro combo attack?" the younger brother inquired to the other his older brother

"Sounds good!" he answered. He held out his frying pan in front of himself, and his brother who now stood on top of it with one hand. His younger brother held out his hands to his sides.

" **Heaven and Earth Annihilation**!" they shouted in unison.

"Bring it on !"

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

Lucy sat down on a golden throne that she’d summoned in sewers reading Daybreak. She was wearing a pair magical reading glasses called Gale force reading glasses…or wind reading glasses. It was a magic item that allowed the user to read books or text extremely quickly. Lucy was flipping through the book at such a pace that she only stay on one page for a second. She’d picked it up a few months after she’d left home.

"I knew it” Lucy proclaimed out loud. “I knew that this that this book held a secret of some kind, but I never thought that it’d be such a thing”

Suddenly Duke Everlue burst out of the wall and tried to grab a hold of her arm in an attempt to restrain her. Emphasis on tried as he did not expect a throne to block his way and promptly smashed his head on it.

"Well then please share" Everlue demanded climbing over the throne to try and grab her only to be deflected by a Warhammer from the Gate of Babylon "Secrets don’t make friends you know"

"You are unworthy of the secret of this book" Lucy shouted at Everlue standing up and dismissing her throne. "So I will not allow a mongrel like you to know it”

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

 

Meanwhile back in the lobby, the brothers let out a battle cry. The older Vanish Brother threw his younger, taller brother into the air. Natsu, following the younger brother with his eyes and was distracted as the other brother came at him with his frying pan.

"Look toward heaven and…" he said. He hit Natsu with his frying pan, sending him across the room to the wall on the far end. "And strike from the Earth!"

Natsu, managed to stop himself before he hit the wall and faced the older brother again, forgetting about the other one was still.

"Look towards earth and…" the voice of the younger brother said, coming from right behind him. Before Natsu could turn around, the younger brother drove his foot into his back, sending him to his stomach. "We strike from Heaven!"

"You have witnessed the true power of the Vanish Brothers." The older brother said as looking on as the rubble from the ground flew into the air with his brother standing behind him. “The Heaven and Earth Annihilation technique"

"It’s force that very few are able to survive-" the younger brother boasted, but gasped as the smoke and rubble cleared away.

"Guess I’m one of the few," he said as he stared at them intensely “Sorry guys”

"No way!" the brother's shouted.

"Now I’m gonna blow you away with this!" Natsu shouted as he got into a stance putting his hands in front of his mouth " **Fire Dragon’s Roar!** "

"Here comes the fire magic!" the taller brother said, not afraid in the least.

"We’ve got him" his brother bragged. He pulled his frying pan in front of himself and absorbed the fireball into it. " **Flame Cooking**!"

"You see my frying pan absorbs your and doubles their strength, right back at you!" he said.

The younger brother spun around so that the front of the pan faced Natsu, he then let out a battle cry with a crazed look on his face as he sent Natsu's own attack back at him.

Natsu himself looked on calmly, even as his own fire magic thrown back at him even if though it was twice as big now than it was before. The flames exploded around him, creating a large fireball similar to a bomb.

"Now he’s a flame cooked Fairy!" the younger brother laughed.

"Goodbye kid" his brother bellowed confident in their victory.

Inside the flames, Natsu stood completely unaffected by the flames that tried in vain the burn his skin. He breathed in, consuming the fire in his mouth as he was drinking water. He puffed out his chest, pulling in more of the flames until they were all gone.

The vanish brothers, not expecting their opponent to eat the flames, held each other in fear. "OH NO!" they exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, now I’ve got some fire in my belly!" Natsu bellowed.

"Let me show you something" he jumped and leapt towards the brothers while producing a large stream of fire from both of his arms. " **Fire Dragon’s Wing Attack!"** he used his flaming arms as whips, slashing at his opponents.

Outside, the windows and doors of the mansion were blown open and shattered at the force of Natsu's attack. In town, everyone looked towards the Everlue mansion in confusion, shock and wonderment on what had happened.

"Uh oh, did I overdo it again," Natsu asked as he looked at the damage he had inflicted on the mansion and the Vanish brothers, who were on the floor twitching after being burnt to a crisp.

"Were we beaten by a fire wizard?" the older Vanish Brother asked groaning in pain while lying on top of his younger sibling on the floor of the lobby, the brother's mouths were both wide open and had smoke coming out of them.

"Hey, bro tell me when the room stops spinning" his younger brother groaned.

“Ok”

"That’ll teach ya," Natsu said turning around to leave "Guess I’d better go find Lucy. These Merchant Fairies are toast."

Natsu began to walk away from the defeated Vanish Brothers and Virgo.

"We're mercenaries…" the Vanish Brothers groaned in unison

As Natsu started walking away Virgo’s eyes flashed.

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

“Mongrel?” Everlue growled lunging at Lucy again only for her to dodge “How dare you I’m a great man who happens to be culture’s greatest friend. My massive collection of books and art are proof of that.”

“That collection of ugly maids of yours seems to prove otherwise” Lucy fired back.

“How dare you, they are the very definition of beauty” Everlue growled increasing the tightness of his hold further “Now tell me what secrets does this book hold? Let me guess he buried his fortune and there’s a treasure map hidden inside. Tell me or I’ll snap your arms like toothpicks"

“Screw you fat ass” Lucy snarled at the corrupt Duke.

 Unfortunately, this only made him angrier, so he tightening his grip even further and slamming her face against the ground.

“Now is not the time to get sassy” Duke Everlue snapped “Listen, I myself commissioned this books very creation. Therefore any secret’s it holds is rightfully my property.”

Finally sick of the Duke she fired a warhammer from out of the gate and batted him away with it.

However this caused Happy who was flying at him to miss and crash into the wall where his target had been moments before, he bounced off of the wall and hovered above the sewer water for a few seconds before his wings vanished and he fell in.

"What’s this?” Everlue growled. “A flying cat?"

"The names Happy." Happy gurgled as he resurfaced making bubbles in the sewage water.

“You really shouldn’t stay in there Happy” Lucy sighed at the ridiculousness of the cat.

"But the water feels so good," Happy said sighing in contentment causing Lucy to face palm.

"I know the whole story now!" Lucy said at Everlue with an angry tone “It’s a horrible adventure novel about a trashy little character named Duke Everlue!"

"Are you serious?" Happy asked climbing out of the sewer water

"I don’t know that I’d call the protagonist trashy" Everlue snarled "But yes, the story itself is crap and to think it was written by the great Kemu Zaleon, inexcusable!"

"You’re an arrogant bastard who forced him to write it for you” Lucy shouted at Everlue as he continued to try and attack her using Diver Magic. However, she repelled him using her Warhammer to bat him away every time he came close. However, he dove back into the ground or the walls and tried again, each time with the same result.

"Arrogant? Moi?" Everlue’s voice questioned. "The word doesn’t begin to apply; to tell my story is an honour no matter what the circumstances!"

"Then why did you have to blackmail him into writing it for you?" Lucy asked.

"Blackmail?" Happy said.

"What’s the big deal?" Everlue grinned as he pinched his moustache. "He just needed some extra encouragement to take the job."

“Oh really?” Lucy asked with disbelief

"Any fool would have jumped at the chance to have me as their muse," Everlue ranted as he swam through the ground like it was water before diving under again "But he had the audacity to say no. So I gave him the added inspiration in the form of an ultimatum: write the novel or his family will be stripped of their citizenship."

"But then none of them would be able to join any of the guilds and make a living. Do you really have the power to do that?" Happy asked with shock.

"I have the power to do anything," Everlue replied appeared from beneath them causing Lucy to dodge to the side. "I got him to write it didn’t I? But I didn't like his attitude. So I decided he'd do best by writing from a prison cell. He went on and on about being a brilliant novelist who would never give into threats. But in the end, I got what I wanted."

“You kept him in solitary confinement for three years simply to satisfy your meagre vanity. Don't you know how hard that must have been for him to be away from his family for that long?" Lucy asked angrily as Everlue attacked again only for Lucy to smash him into the wall with her hammer again.

"Three whole years?!" Happy said, shocked.

"Perhaps it took him that long to appreciate me?" Everlue gloated still smug somehow even after being punched into a wall, it seemed that even as he pulled himself out of the wall his arrogance remained intact. He was nothing if not persistent.

"Wrong, the reality is that he saw you for who you and what you are and couldn’t bear to spread such lies” Lucy shot back. "But he knew that he to satisfy your vanity. He knew that if he didn’t write your character as a heroic champion of justice then his family would suffer."

"Tell me, how exactly do you know this?" Everlue demanded

Lucy held Daybreak in front of her. "It's all written here in black and white!"

"What? I’ve read that book from cover to cover and Kemu Zaleon isn’t it." Everlue stated.

"Well if you read it normally there’s no mention of him," Lucy said. "But I happen to know something that you don’t know, long before he was an author he was a wizard!"

"What did he do" Everlue demanded

"After he finished the book he gathered all of his remaining strength and cast a spell on it" Lucy explained still glaring at the duke.

"What a dirty trick, He turned a book about a great man like me into a hatchet job?" Everlue's shoulders shook with rage "The nerve of that fool!"

"You’re the real fool here aren’t you?!" Lucy smirked "It’s true that he wrote about the pain and torture you that you put him through, but the chapters talk about what you did to him are only a small part of the book. In fact, its secret has nothing to do with you"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Everlue demanded

“Tell us Lucy,” Happy said eagerly

"I’m not returning this book Everlue!" Lucy said “And I can’t really destroy it either, not until the person it’s really written for has seen it”

“What the hell does that mean?” Everlue demanded “And why were you talking about all of this anyway? Why waste time blabbing about what I did to that idiot Zaleon? What purpose does it serve?”

“Simple” Lucy produced a small crystal ball from out of her pocket that flashed red softly “This is a recording Lacrima that I’ve had on me. I always keep a few on me So after I read the book I turned one on when you burst in earlier I set it to record, and it’s been doing just that this whole time. In other words, you’ve just confessed to your crimes, I can’t help but wonder what the Magic Council will think when they hear this?”

 Lucy had a smug expression on her face as she tossed the Lacrima up and down in her hand a few times before turning it off.

‘Crap she’s been recording me this whole time and that book, hack must have written an exposé about all of my illegal business deals. I can't have that. If the magic council somehow finds out how I actually made my fortune, my goose will be cooked even with just the Lacrima recording."

"Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!" Everlue shouted pulling out a Celestial Gate Key and shouted,

"So that maid was really was a celestial spirit?" Lucy mumbled with a grin and glint in her eyes.

"He's using your trick, Lucy," Happy said.

Emerging from the ground was the Celestial Spirit, Virgo. To the duo’s surprise, it was that same big fat pink-haired maiden that Natsu defeated earlier.

"Did I hear my master summon me!" Virgo shouted.

"Virgo, fetch me that book and that recording Lacrima!" Everlue ordered.

"Hold on, she's a Celestial Spirit?" Lucy said, shocked.

If that wasn't surprising enough, they were even shocked of who appeared with Virgo. Standing on top of Virgo was Natsu

"Natsu!" Lucy and Happy shouted.

"Yeah," Natsu replied.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Everlue asked with shock

"What are you doing up there?" Lucy asked him.

"Well we saw her getting up so I sort of jumped on her," Natsu explained “And all of a sudden I ended up here”

"So you two grabbed a hold of her inside the house?" Lucy asked, surprised. “That means that you passed through the spirit gate with her. But that’s impossible such a trip would kill a human”

“Lucy so the hell do I do now?” Natsu asked

“Just sit back and watch fool” Lucy replied

"Virgo, clean up this rubbish!" Everlue ordered.

"As you wish, Master," Virgo replied.

Virgo was ready to strike Natsu but Lucy was quicker.

“Natsu stab her with this,” Lucy said throwing a lightning bolt shaped dagger at him

“What’s this thing?” Natsu asked grabbing the dagger “It’s shiny”

“That’s called Rule Breaker you idiot” Lucy replied “Now stab Virgo with it and I’ll consider forgiving you for deceiving me earlier”

“Ok,” Natsu nodded and plunged the dagger into Virgo who promptly vanished.

“What the…where she go?” Everlue demanded, “What have you done-”

Everlue was cut off as a chain wrapped around his hand and snatched the Virgo’s key out of his hand and brought it to Lucy, who took it.

“That dagger is called Rule Breaker and it has the ability to nullify spells and magic of all sorts and even break contracts like the one between a human and Celestial Spirit” Lucy explained dismissing the Chains and Rule Breaker.

“What?!” Everlue was now shaking with rage.

“I think the Magic Council should hear this confession don’t you Everlue?” Lucy grinned knowing that would push his buttons.

“NOOO DON’T YOU DARE!!!” Everlue shouted leaping at Lucy.

“Not so fast you bastard,” Natsu said intercepting him and smashed the Duke into the ground.

Everlue skidding face first along the ground before being stopped by Lucy’s boot impacting into his head.

“Happy hold this and don’t drop it” Lucy commanded handing the recording Lacrima off to Happy. “Oh and fill Natsu in on what the Duke’s done to the author, I don’t feel like repeating myself”

“Aye sir” Happy saluted holding the Lacrima tight and flying off to Natsu to explain to him.

“I think it’s time for some payback Everlue” Lucy said as the chains appeared from above and wrapped around him and manoeuvred him so that he was horizontal and facing Natsu who had an outraged look on his face after Happy had finished explaining the Duke’s crimes to him.

“What are you doing release me!!” Everlue demanded struggling in vain against the chains.

“As you wish” Lucy grinned releasing the Duke smashed her warhammer against the Duke’s behind as she dismissed the chains, this sent him flying in Natsu’s direction “Alright Natsu, I think it's time to give this mongrel exactly what he has coming to him. Don’t you?”

“Oh yeah, alright Duke ‘whatever your name is’ time to pay for what you did…..” Natsu said angrily as he pounded his fists together and got into a stance “ **FIRE DRAGONS IRON FIST** ”

Natsu promptly gave the duke a powerful punch in the form of an uppercut which sent him flying through the ceiling and back into the upper levels of his own mansion, crashing through the numerous floors and ceilings that were in his path. Unfortunately for him, the force of Natsu’s punch was such, that he kept going until he exited through the roof and then crashed back through it until he landed in a crater in the lobby.

“Alright then,” Lucy said dusting off her hands “Time to get going Natsu” 

So the two wizards and cat ran out of the sewers and made their way up to the outside of the mansion. As they reached the wrecked Lucy paused and turned to look at the mansion which was rapidly crumbling

"I like your style," Natsu told the girls. "Out with a bang, you’re definitely going to fit into Fairy Tail."

"But aren't we supposed to not destroy stuff?" Happy asked.

"Let’s just go," Lucy said ignoring the collapsing mansion and putting Virgo’s key away in the Gate of Babylon.

 [------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

Lucy finally caught up just as Natsu and Happy reached Kaby Melon's house Lucy decided to fill Natsu in about the book.

"When I read Daybreak it was hard to believe that it was written by someone like Kemu Zaleon," Lucy said. "There's no way he would have done something that bad."

"Yeah, so," Natsu said.

"So that's how I knew there must be a spell on it, you idiot," Lucy said.

The gang finally returned to Kaby Melon's mansion and Lucy handed the Daybreak book back to him. Kaby was a bit puzzled on why they were giving the book when he preferred it destroyed.

"But I requested this book be destroyed," Kaby told the gang. "Why on earth are you handing it back to me completely unscathed?"

"If you really want to burn it then do it yourself," Lucy told Kaby.

"I will most certainly burn this trash," Kaby said, getting a matchstick to burn it. "I never wanted to see it again."

"But before you do that, you are Kemu Zaleon’s son aren't you aren’t  Kaby?" Lucy said. "You wish to destroy the book to preserve his legacy don’t you?"

Natsu and Happy were caught by surprise by the news. They would never have expected that. However, they were confused on why Kaby would want to burn his father's own book.

"Yes, that's true," Kaby admitted.

"Have you read it yourself?" Lucy asked Kaby.

"No," Kaby replied. "I could never really bring myself to do it. My father told me it was garbage."

"So you were just going to burn it?" Natsu asked, shocked and wondered why Kaby would want to destroy something that was the only reminder of his father.

"I was," Kaby said.

"Without even bothering to see what's inside!" Natsu shouted, outraged. "It's the last book that your dad wrote, right! Some of us would kill for that kind of memory!"

"Natsu that's enough!" Lucy said wrenching Natsu off of Kaby "Let Kaby explain himself!"

"Please, that book caused my family great heartache and shame," Kaby told the three. "It happened about thirty-one years ago."

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

 

_After three years Kemu Zaleon finally arrived back home and Kaby was shocked that his father actually came back._

_"Father?" Kaby said, surprised._

_"Forgive me, son." Kemu said seeing how upset his son was_

_"We haven't heard anything from you in three years," Kaby told his father. "Where have you been all this time?"_

_"Somewhere where I'll not return," Kemu said, binding his right arm very tightly with rope. "It's all over now."_

_"No, father!" Kaby yelled watching his father grab an axe with his left hand._

_"I'll never write again!" Kemu shouted to himself. He raised his left arm and severed his own right arm._

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

 

The Natsu and Happy freaked out and were shocked that Kemu Zaleon actually cut off his right arm. Lucy wasn’t fazed and instead continued listening but raised her eyebrow at Zaleon doing something like that.

"Whoa!" Happy exclaimed.

Kaby continued with his story

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

_Kemu was taken to the hospital to be treated and Kaby stood by his side._

_"You should have listened to me," Kaby told his father. "I told you you'd regret working for that horrible Duke Everlue. But you went ahead and did it anyway. Why?"_

_"Because it was good money," Kemu replied._

_"Who cares!" Kaby said. "Look where it got you!"_

_Kemu just smiled and said, "I'm so glad I finished that rubbish."_

_"What the heck are you smiling about?" Kaby asked. "Do you think it's funny leaving your family behind for three years to write a novel you're not even proud of?"_

_"Son," Kemu spoke. "I thought about you the entire time when I was gone."_

_"Then you should have just written something for him quickly and come back to us!" Kaby told his father. "Instead you abandoned your pride and your family right along with it. You're a sad excuse for a writer by selling yourself out to the highest bidder. You're not much of a father either."_

_Kemu just smiled on even as his son left the room in anger._

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

 

"Not long after that, my father passed away," Kaby told the gang. "However, the anger and betrayal I felt towards him lived on. But as the years passed by me that only slowly turned to remorse. And now… it's too late for me now to ask for his forgiveness. So I decided to make amends by destroying the final work that had caused him so much unhappiness. This is the only way. The only way to preserve his legacy. I'm sure that this is what he'd want."

"That’s where you're wrong," Lucy said to Kaby before he was able to burn the book.

"What's happening?" Kaby asked in surprise as the book shined brightly

"A spell has been cast on this book," Lucy explained "It's the work of the wizard, Kemu Zaleon. Or should I say Zekua Melon."

"A spell?" Kaby said, shocked by this revelation.

The words: DAYBREAK, rearranged the letters in it and the book spelt: DEAR KABY.

"This book is his letter to you," Lucy said to Kaby. "It was disguised behind a spell that rearranged all of the words, so no one else could read it."

The book glowed and suddenly all of the letters streamed out of the book and began moving in different directions as they rearranged themselves and Kaby could make out what the words were written and what they said, much to his shock.

“Dear Kaby” Kaby read the title in shock.

"Wow," Natsu said, astonished.

"Pretty," Happy said.

"He didn't stop writing because he was ashamed," Lucy corrected Kaby. "He stopped because he had finished his masterpiece. A novel containing everything he ever wanted to say to his beloved son. And when you read it the way he intended it's easily his best work ever."

Tears of happiness came out of Kaby's eyes and realised his father truly did care for him. In his heart, he wished he could take back the last words he said to his father before he died.

"And now that the spell has been broken you can read it for yourself," Lucy said.

"Thank you, father. I swear I will never let any harm come to this book." Kaby vowed hugging the book to himself tightly.

"Well I guess we won't be collecting that reward," Natsu said causing Lucy’s eye to twitch.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

“What but-“

"The whole point of the job was to destroy the book," Natsu said cutting Kaby off. "We didn't finish the job."

"Even so let me do something," Kaby insisted.

“Nah its fine you have that book from your dad and Everlue’s beaten.” Natsu grinned “So all’s well that end we_”

“Natsu!!!!” Lucy growled causing him to seize up at the aura that was emanating from her “You tricked me into going with you on this stupid job, and I forgave you for that. However, I never said I would forgive you for skimping out on the reward”

Letting out an angry roar Lucy opened the Gate fo Babylon and aimed its content at Natsu who began running.

“Oh crap she’s pissed, run for it Happy,” Natsu said as they ran out of the mansion, a hail of weapons from the Gate landing very close to them and exploding on impact with the ground.

“Aye sir!”

“NATSU YOU HAD BETTER HOPE THAT NONE OF THESE HITS YOU!!!! Lucy yelled despite the fact that she could easily hit Natsu if she truly wanted.

“YOU SAID THAT YOU’D FORGIVE ME” Natsu yelled dodging the weapons by mere inches.

“I SAID I’D CONSIDER AND I CHOOSE NOT TOO!!” Lucy roared giving chase.

This only encouraged Natsu to run faster and Happy to fly faster in order to escape from Lucy’s impending wrath as she followed them.

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

 

The next day, the gang then continued on walking towards the road to Magnolia. Natsu, Happy were walking through the swamp. Lucy, however, chose to ride above them on her Vimana

"Are you mongrels certain you know the right way back?" Lucy demanded with annoyance

"Happy says this is the way home so this is the way we're going," Natsu replied being careful with his tone as Lucy had not fully forgiven him yet.

"Have some faith," Happy said. "I'm a cat. I have a great sense of smell. My nose will lead us home."

“It’s dogs that have great noses you foolish cat” Lucy snapped “And you are about as far from a dog as you can get.”

Suddenly, Natsu heard something going on in the bushes.

"Who's there?" Natsu demanded, as he jumped into the bushes to attack the mysterious person hiding.

Lucy scoffed as he jumped headfirst to attack.

"You can take him, Natsu!" Happy cheered him on.

Jumping out of the bushes was Natsu along with the person who was fighting him. Surprisingly, it turned out to be Gray Fullbuster.

"It's Gray," Happy said.

“Why are you in your underwear again Gray?” Lucy asked

"Trying to find a bathroom," Gray replied.

"Why would you strip down before you found one?" Natsu asked.

Natsu and Gray began their argument once again as everyone watched on.

“Pair of morons” Lucy grumbled

Once everything had calmed down, Gray had explained himself that he too was on his way back from a job he just finished.

"So you're on your way back from a job?" Lucy asked Gray.

"Yeah," Gray replied. "There's a shortcut through these woods that will get you back to town in no time."

"See, I told you so," Happy said, but quickly stopped being smug when Lucy shot him an unpleasant look.

"Yeah, well if your nose is so great then how come you didn't know Gray was right in front of us?" Lucy asked Happy. “Smart alec”

"There's some thing's you don't want to smell," Happy replied.

“What’d you say” Gray demanded

“I agree,” Natsu said “so gone home and we’ll smell you later”

"Fine I will and unless you want trouble you will too" Gray said standing up

"Why do you say that?" Lucy asked Gray.

"Because, Erza’s due back anytime now," Gray warned them.

Natsu felt a chill go up his spine as soon as her name was mentioned.

"As in Erza Scarlet?" Lucy asked having heard of her strength through the magazines she’d read.

"Erza is the most powerful woman in all of Fairy Tail," Happy said.

"Sound’s interesting I almost can’t wait to meet her," Lucy said “So what’s she like?”

"Scary," they all replied.

"A wild animal" Gray said

"More like vile beast," Natsu stated

"More like a giant monster," Happy chimed in

Lucy began picturing it in her head and began picturing her as a monster who could destroy an entire town and chuckled at the image.

 “She’s not that big you guys” Happy interjected

“We’ll she’s big enough for me,” Natsu said

"Well one thing we can all agree on she’s definitely that scary" Gray said "well maybe a little scarier"

"I mean she can crush an entire mountain," Natsu said.

“What?” Gray interjected “I can guarantee that Erza can take down at least three mountains with a single kick”

“No need to exaggerate like that Gray it’s more like two” Happy chimed in again

"The way you guys describe makes it sound like she’s not human," Lucy said

"Like I said, we should get back," Gray suggested.

"Crap, let's get moving," Natsu said, panicking.

Suddenly, an explosion erupted around the gang. They had just been ambushed by a group of criminal wizards. The two wizards crawled their way out of the sand that they had been stuck in while Lucy simply looked down on them from her Vimana unaffected with an amused grin on her face.

"What now?" Gray wondered.

"Happy, where are you?" Natsu shouted realising that his friend hand vanished.

“He’s over there,” Lucy said with boredom pointing in a direction from her vantage point above them on her Vimana.

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

"Help me," Happy begged hoping one of his friends would hear him and come to save him.

The talking cat found himself tied up to a stick over woods and stone with a bunch of dark wizard's that ambushed Natsu and Gray earlier gathered around him. They had kidnapped Happy, apparently with the intention of cooking him for dinner.

"We're finally going to get some real protein."

"No berries for us tonight."

"Finally meat."

"Our future holds a feast."

"Wow, look at him shaking."

"Hey, cat, relax. You're going to be in our bellies soon enough so there's no need to be scared."

"Actually I'm not shaking like this because I'm scared," Happy said to the ambushers. "I got to use the bathroom really bad. I can't hold it much longer and I bet you it's going to make me taste weird."

"Who cares? All right, boys, let's get ready to cook him."

"Hey, I'm serious," Happy panicked "It's going to make me taste funny. I just know it will."

"Hold it right there!" Natsu shouted from on a cliff overlooking the clearing that the gang and Happy were in.

"Thank goodness," Happy said, relieved. "Now I'm not going to taste weird."

"Pipe down," one of the goons told Happy.

"That's our friend you're trying to roast, buddy," Natsu said, tightening his fist. "Sorry but you're going to have to make other plans for dinner."

"You're all wizards aren't you," Gray figured. "What guild are you with?"

"I'm not telling," one of the goons grinned. "Get them, boys!"

However, before they could get into action they were hit a rain of weapons which exploded upon impact covering them all with smoke. When it cleared they were all seriously injured and completely unconscious. None of the wounds were immediately fatal but they would need medical attention.

“Thanks for saving me Lucy” Happy called

“Oh would you look at that I hit all those wizards” Lucy sighed with boredom “That’ll teach them to stand in the way I suppose”

“Wait you were aiming for me?!” Happy yelled indignantly “Don’t tell me you’re still mad?”

“What do you think?” Lucy asked rhetorically sending him a glare as Natsu untied him.

“Hey, where did all those weapons come from?” Gray asked pointing at the weapons which were rapidly dissolving into golden dust. “How’d you do it, Lucy?”

 “None of your business” Lucy snapped angrily sending him a glare that indicated the conversation was over.

“Well whatever let’s just get back home before Erza beats us there” Natsu insisted.

“Aye” Happy said

With that small escapade over with the four continued on the way back to Magnolia, unaware that a certain scarlet haired swordswoman was already walking through the town carrying large decorated horn through the streets.


	4. Lullaby Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only. ******
> 
> **[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]**

After finally returning to the Guild with Natsu and Gray after finishing the Everlue job Lucy had listened to Mira's explanation of about the Guild Master's meeting that Makarov was attending currently.

Now Lucy found herself at the board trying to find a Job that was challenging enough for her skills. Unfortunately none of them were even remotely worthy of her power or her skill, hence why she was taking such a long time trying to find one.

"Would you just hurry up and pick us a job already" Natsu asked impatiently

"And why would you care about me picking a job?" Lucy demanded

"Well we are a team now aren't we?" Natsu replied

"Yeah and we picked the Job last time" Happy pointed out "It's your turn to pick, so get to it."

"Our 'team' is history as far I'm concerned." Lucy snapped still not having forgiven Natsu and Happy "Besides I still haven't forgiven you for deceiving me."

"Aw come on Lucy...Don't tell me you're still mad about that" Natsu whined.

Lucy's response was a glare that told the two to shut up.

"Hey Lucy" Gray called out half naked again "I wouldn't stay with those losers if I was you, you'll get plenty of offers from other teams"

"Your clothes Gray" Cana pointed out causing him to grow pale as he only now realised that had stripped again.

"Shaddup!" Natsu yelled.

"Did you just tell me to shaddup, dragon boy?" Gray demanded angrily getting in Natsu's face.

"So what if I did what are you going to do about it stripper?"

"Flamebrain!"  
" Icy bastard!" " Get outta my face!"  
"You stink!"

"Looks like they're at it again" Happy sighed

"Why don't you join the team of love with me Lucy?" Loke offered moving onto the hit on Lucy "Tonight. Just the two of us. You really are stunningly gorgeous. I have to keep my shades on when I look at you or I'd be blinded by your dazzling beauty"

"Only a truly shallow mongrel of a woman would be stupid enough to fall for a routine like this" Lucy said mockingly

Loke's eyes widened comically as he spotted the keys that were attached to her belt.

"You're not a Celestial Wizard are you?" he asked flinching away with fright.

"Yeah." Happy said "She's got a cow and a mermaid, she also said she had a crab too though I never saw it"

"Cruel fate why must you toy with me so?" Loke cried dramatically running out of the guild as fast as he could "I'm sorry but you and I can't be together my dear."

"And just what is his problem?" Lucy inquired watching him run out of sight.

"Loke has a bad history with Celestial Wizards." Mirajane explained "Rumour has it that he dated one and it didn't end up very well."

"Oh really, I can't possibly imagine why" Lucy said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

Suddenly Lucy was caught off guard as Natsu crashed on top of her after being smashed in her direction by Gray.

"That looked painful" Mira commented.

"Could you two fools cut this out?" Lucy growled.

"He picked this fight! I'm just following through" Gray yelled as Lucy stood up and lifted Natsu above her head with one hand, whispering something into his ear which made him grin. "You think I'm not gonna pay him back?"

"Where are your clothes?" Cana asked incredulous that he'd stripped again.

"Gah!" Gray promptly began searching for his clothes again

"Hey Ice princess think fast" Natsu called as Gray turned to see Natsu flying in his direction with an outstretched fist that crashed into his face sending them both tumbling over to the other side of the Guild where their brawl got more intense.

"Leave me out of it this time or I'll snap both of your spines like toothpicks" Lucy growled at the two who were brawling again.

"Thanks Lucy" Natsu yelled as he and Gray pummelled each other.

"Yeah thanks a million" Gray said sarcastically "Now I have to get this flaming bastard off me"

"WHAT YOU SAY?!"

"YOU HEARD ME DRAGON BREATH"

Naturally their fight only got more and more intense, only a few seconds later Loke came running back into the guild at full speed with a panicked look on his face.

"We've got bad news" he yelled with a pale face "It's Erza, she's back!"

The whole guild suddenly froze what they were doing, after tense few seconds and sounds of footsteps getting closer. Suddenly a woman with scarlet red hair came in to the room, wearing what Lucy recognised as Heart Kreuz armour. She was carrying a massive horn that was decorated.

"I'm have returned." Erza announced as she put the massive horn on the ground causing the guild hall to shake "Where is Master Makarov?"

"Welcome back Erza. The Master's at a conference right now" Mira informed Erza as she smiling at her.

"I see." Erza said nodding her thanks to Mira while one of the nearby men looked at her confused and nervously addressed her.

"So E-Erza. What's that humongous thing that you've got there?" a guild member asked.

"It's the horn of a monster I defeated. The locals were so thankful that they decorated it and gave it to me as a souvenir. Do you have a problem with it?" Erza asked causing Erza to narrow her eyes at the one who asked, which in turn caused him to raise his hands defensively and reply in the negative.

"I bet she's heard about what happened at Mount Hakobe" Cana muttered as she chugged down a keg of beer.

"You think so" Macao said nervously "Oh man I'm a goner"

"Now listen up! While I was on the road I heard a few things, word is that Fairy Tail causing nothing but trouble as of late." Erza said giving a annoyed look to the Guild Members.

"Master Makarov may not care but I most certainly do. Cana!" Erza shouted turning towards the brown haired drinker who 'eeped' at the attention.

"You need to start controlling your drinking. Brigitar!" Erza said causing the dancer to freeze in place, while Cana nodded meekly.

"Please take the dancing outside unless there's a reason for it. Wakaba get rid of that filthy habit. Nab, I suspected I would find you dawdling in front of the request board. Just pick a job! Macao." Erza merely closed her eyes and sighed causing Macao to beg her to say something.

"I don't even know where to begin with you. You cause so much trouble I've almost given up." Erza said sighing as she put a hand to her head as if to massage a headache away.

"So this is the famed Erza Scarlet" Lucy said herself not at all intimidated by the presence of one who seemed to frighten most of the guild.

"Are Natsu and Gray here?" Erza asked turning to look around again since she had yet to hear the two causing a ruckus.

"Hey there Erza. We're just getting along and hanging out like good friends tend to do." Gray said as he and Natsu acted like best friends under the scarlet haired woman's sharp eyes while Natsu gave an 'Aye'

"Good. I'm quite pleased to see you two getting along so well, however it's only natural for even the best of friends to lock horns ever now and again." Erza said with a satisfied smile.

"We're not that close." Gray tried to amend but Erza wasn't listening and Natsu was still frozen in fear.

"So what's gotten into Natsu that's making him talk like the cat?" Lucy asked.

"He's scared" Mira explained "A few years ago he challenged Erza to a fight and she beat him up pretty bad."

"So she's stronger than Natsu is she?" Lucy asked examining Erza "Well that's not saying much."

"After that she found Gray walking around naked so she decided to beat him up too" Macao revealed grinning.

"And let's not forget she also beat up Loke for trying to hit on her" Cana put in with a smirk "He totally deserved it though."

"Natsu, Gray. I need you to do me a favour." Erza said to the two "While travelling I overheard something that has me worried. Normally I would consult with the master before acting but he's not here and this is a matter of utmost urgency. The two of you are the strongest wizards here; I could really use your help"

After she finished everyone began to mutter amongst themselves.

"Erza, Natsu, and Gray working together? I never saw that one coming" Mira exclaimed as Lucy sat down on the bar "This could be the most powerful team Fairy Tail has ever seen"

'Me and Natsu/Gray on the same team?' Gray and Natsu thought in unison while staring at other.

Lucy picked up and drunk an entire mug of beer before setting it down and locking her eyes on Erza. She gave her a once over and could tell that the woman was at least competent at using a sword, if the way she walked was any indication. If the way these people talked about her was any indication then she wasn't some rank amateur, but there was only one way to find out if she met Lucy's standards.

"We'll meet at the train station tomorrow morn-" Erza was cut off as she suddenly requipped one of her swords and deflected a finely decorated sword that was flying towards her sending it back along the path it had come from. It suddenly dissolved into a flurry of golden dust in front of Lucy who had a lazy smile on her face.

"Just as I thought you can use a sword then. But I can't help but wonder how skilled are you with it?" Lucy asked with a grin "You deflection wasn't bad, but it was nothing to write home about either."

"Who are you and why did you attack me?" Erza demanded locking eyes with Lucy who was unfazed by her stare.

"I am Lucy Heartfilia and I wanted to take your measure." Lucy replied, the grin never leaving her face as she leapt off of the bar and too her feet "You see while you may inspire fear and awe into these people, you won't find me as easy to impress. I won't believe in your strength until I see it for myself."

This statement caused a nearly everyone in the guild to flinch back in fear and begin mumbling again.

"What's the new girl doing?"

"I don't know but she just attacked Erza"

"Does she have a death wish or something?"

"You attacked because you doubt my power?" Erza asked annoyed at the challenge to her strength.

"I did" Lucy replied simply "I've heard a lot about you, they say that you're the strongest woman in Fairy Tail correct?"

"What of it?" Erza asked not breaking her stare into Lucy's eyes.

"Well it's a rather lofty title" Lucy said causally "So as I said, I want to see your strength for myself. To see if you're really worthy of being called the strongest woman in Fairy Tail"

"So you have no faith my strength as a wizard is that it?" Erza asked dropping any emotion from her tone causing everyone in the guild to shiver.

"That's right but I'm not unfair so how about a wager?" Lucy said "I'll be using this mission of yours to determine your strength. I'll watch you and if you meet my standards you have my word that I'll acknowledge your strength and respect you and any decisions you might make."

"And if I were to fail to meet your standards?" Erza questioned "What then?"

"If you fail then not only will I never respect you but we'll fight in front of the entire guild" Lucy chuckled titling her head "And I'll be taking those titles of yours when I crush you."

Erza's grip on her sword tightened and the Guild seemed to creep away from the two who were both putting out threatening auras toward each other.

"Lucy's a goner" Gray mumbled.

"Yup, it was nice knowing her" Natsu said agreeing with Gray for once.

"Or perhaps we can settle this right no-"

"Oh Erza I almost forgot" Mira yelled interrupted the impending clash between the two and getting the scarlet haired woman's attention as she walked up to her and held out an envelope "The Master told me to give you this the moment you got back. He said it was important that you read it before doing anything else."

Erza took the letter and Mira let out a sigh of relief at having avoided a brawl between the two. She could sense a strange power emanating from Lucy as well as a large magical energy supply. Add to that the fact that Erza was no pushover herself, then a fight between the two could very well level the Guild if Lucy was as strong as Mira thought she was. The Master had told her to make sure that Erza got that letter the moment she met Lucy. Apparently she worried him for whatever reason.

Erza tore open the letter and began reading it. After a few seconds she finished reading the letter and she put her sword away, letting out a deep calming breath before folding the letter up and putting it away into her pocket.

"Very well I accept your challenge" Erza said to Lucy as the orders the Master had given her in his message to caused her sense of duty to override any annoyance she had towards from the girl. The best way to follow his orders and keep an eye on Lucy was to indulge her for now. "As I said we shall meet at train station tomorrow morning"

"I'll be waiting for then" Lucy chuckled strolling leisurely out of the Guild.

Muttering broke out amongst the Guild again.

"Did you see that?"

"Yeah the new girl got Erza to back down"

"I bet it has to do with that letter she got from the Master"

"Yeah he's the only one that could get her to back off just by telling to"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The next day at the train station Lucy, Erza, Natsu and Gray were all fathered at the station waiting to board the train.

"Let's get along again today!" Gray said acting like he and Natsu were best friends again when the two noticed Erza coming towards them with a lot of luggage. More so than any normal person would carry with them.

"Aye sir." Natsu cheered with an arm around Gray's shoulder.

"Good. Getting along is very important." Erza said smiling at the boys before catching sight of Lucy and beginning to talk to her instead.

"So you're here" Erza stated as she stood in front of Lucy who was sipping some of the Kings Wine from her vault treasury.

"Of course" Lucy said between sips while holding Plue in one arm "There is a time and a place for fashionable lateness but this isn't one of them. After all I don't want to miss a single second of seeing you in action, is the reality any match for the legend? We'll see won't we Erza Scarlet?"

Erza clamped down on her anger as the Master's letter came to her mind. The letter had asked her to keep an eye on Lucy and not to engage her in a fight. This task was going to be more difficult than any the Master had given her.

Her problem was that Lucy had a gratingly arrogant personality that annoyed her greatly. It was almost like she had known someone with a personality like this before. But the only time she could think of was in her memories. The one's she desperately had no desire to confront. One's that spoke of a past life, memories that she feared would swallow up who she was if she confronted them.

"Erza! I don't mind coming with you but when we get back I want you to fight me!" Natsu demanded earning a shocked look from Gray and a quirked eyebrow from Lucy while Erza merely smirked at him.

"Shut up, have you got some kind of death wish?" Gray demanded as he put a hand on the pink haired Dragon Slayers shoulder.

"It'll be way different from before. Now I might be able to actually beat you." Natsu said grinning widely at Erza.

"Yes I can tell that you've improved. As to whether or not you can beat me I suppose we'll have to see. I accept your challenge" Erza said smirking at Natsu.

"YEAH! I'm all fired up!" Natsu said igniting his head and hands while grinning in excitement.

A few minutes after they had gotten on the train Natsu had turned green as they rode on towards Onibas.

"I swear you're totally pathetic Natsu. One minute you're picking a fight and the next you're like this." Gray said snickering at Natsu predicament as he sat next to Erza while Lucy sat beside Gray sipping her wine.

"Shaddup Gray." Natsu groaned leaning his head back in an attempt to keep from throwing up.

"Now just relax Natsu" Erza said with a sigh giving Natsu a smile before slamming a fist in his gut, knocking him out instantly.

"There." She said, satisfied. "That should make the trip a little easier on him."

"Honestly you three are a real pack of jokers aren't you?" Lucy said snorting derisively while dismissing her now finished wine cup "I seriously hope you can meet my expectation Titania. Because so far I've seen nothing impressive from the so called number one guild in Fiore. Right now your strongest team is composed of yourself, a Fire Wizard who gets sick when traveling on any form transportation and snowman who strips every five minutes. It's really quite pathetic."

Erza bit her lip but didn't respond to the remark that was obviously intended to provoke her. She would not give Lucy the satisfaction of knowing she was getting to her. Gray however was not as even-tempered.

"Hey! Just where do you get off thinking you're better than the rest us?" He snapped angrily "Now that I've gotten to know you, it turns out your really stuck up and overconfident in yourself. You give Erza this stupid test despite being told how powerful she is. What gives you the right to test anyone?!"

"It is my right and privilege as the one true King" Lucy replied simply "Lesser beings like yourself should know when to kneel before your betters."

"King? Lesser being? what the hell does tha-"

"Let it go Gray" Erza ordered

"But Erza…" Gray began objecting

"I said Let! It! Go!" Erza ordered forcefully emphasising each word with seriousness.

"I….you…. fine" Gray sighed letting it go, albeit with great reluctance and annoyance "Alright then Erza what kind of mission are we going on here?"

"Of course" Erza nodded "I have reason to believe that the dark guild Eisenwald is planning something big. I overheard some of their guild members talking in a pub in Onibas; they started talking about a flute called Lullaby and about the seal on it that prevented usage. A man called Kageyama said that he could take care of it and to tell someone called Erigor that he'll return in three days. By the time I remembered who Erigor was it was too late."

"Lullaby you say?" Lucy said showing an interest "How interesting maybe this mission of yours will be a worthy test of your skills after all"

"You've heard of Lullaby?" Erza asked demandingly "What do you know about it?"

"Of course I've heard of it, but I will not repeat myself so listen well. Now then according to my inform Lullaby is a magical flute created by the Dark Wizard Zeref." she told them causing them to stiffen in their seats at the mention of the legendary Dark Wizard. "According to what I've read anyone who hears the tune of Lullaby will die. It's very effective for killing hundreds if not thousands of people at a time"

The two Wizard and the cat's eyes grew large at the implications. If Eisenwald used Lullaby then people would definitely die en masse.

"Ok so then who's this Erigor guy?" Gray asked.

"Erigor, The ace of Eisenwald Erigor." Erza explained "He only accepts assassination requests, which is how he earned the name Erigor the Reaper. When the Council outlawed assassination requests Eisenwald decided that money was more important than the Council's rules. As a result they were kicked out of their Wizard League six years ago but that didn't stop them. They've disobeyed orders and remained active to this day. "

Eventually they finally came to a stop in Onibas station. Lucy 'persuaded' the ticket master to give them a discount. But then decided that was limit of her daily generosity.

"Hey Erza do you think the Eisenwald guys are still gonna be in this town?" Gray asked

"I have no idea that's what we're here to find out" Erza replied pulled her huge cart of luggage along with Happy sitting on it.

"You fools have forgotten something" Lucy chuckled "Not a good start"

"Hey she's right does anyone know where Natsu is?" Happy asked

"Ah crap there he goes" Gray said watching the train which had pulled out of the station was disappearing from sight.

"Damn it" Erza growled "I forgot that Natsu can't stand transportation. I'm such an idiot."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Meanwhile back on the rapidly moving train Natsu was still alone in his seat, still suffering from motion sickness.

It was then that a man with a ponytail walked over to him.

"Well lookie here it's a Fairy Tail Wizard" he smirked as he spotted the sign on Natsu's arm. "How's the guild treating you these days? Is it worth sticking around?"

He waited and leaned against the seat opposite Natsu but he did not answer.

"What?" Natsu groaned.

Suddenly the man stood up and kicked Natsu in the face.

"Don't act all high and mighty because you're in a legal guild Mr Fairy. You guys just blindly follow the Magic Council. You what you look like to us harmless little flies" He ranted.

"Y-You!" Natsu stood up, his arm covered in fire. But, his motion sickness got the best of him and his flames went out.

"Hahahahahah! What kind of magic is that?!" the stranger laughed

Natsu growled, as his motion sickness continued to hold him back.

"Let me show you how it's done." The shadow of his legs stretched and leapt out from the from beneath him, turning into an arm and punching Natsu.

"It's all in the follow through."

"That magic.." Natsu growled glaring at the man who attacked him

Suddenly the train gave out a loud squealing sound as it ground to an abrupt halt.

"Huh?" Natsu groaned.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Meanwhile back at Onibas Erza still had her hand on a lever.

"Hey lady what do you think your doing?" One of the station officers demanded "You can't pull emergency stop lever without permission"

"It's for our comrade, please understand" Erza said

"Are you kidding me?" The officer complained

"Now I would like you take our luggage to the hotel." Erza said

"So I look like a bellhop?" he snapped

"It would seem all the Wizards in Fairy Tail possess a dubious sanity" Lucy chuckled.

"Not all of us!" Gray complained.

"Try saying that again when you aren't half naked" Lucy sighed

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"The train stopped" Natsu groaned with relief when he suddenly spotted a strange looking flute on the ground nearby. It was made of wood and had a three-eyed skull on top. "What is that?"

"You saw it!" the man groaned standing up.

Natsu stood up covering his whole body with flames.

"That's enough outta you it's payback time " Natsu raised his fist.

The man's eyes widened. "Guard Shadow" a large amount of shadowy fists emerged to create a dome.

However Natsu was able to break his guard and sending him fly away till his back hit the door of car.

"Lucky shot" he groaned

"Little fly huh?" Natsu grinned.

"Attention to all passengers." The train announcement began broadcasting. "Our emergency stop was a false report. We'll be departing again shortly."

"Oh crap I gotta go" Natsu started sweating and grabbed his luggage.

"Hold it right there!" The man yelled. "I'm not letting you get away that easily. You're messing with Eisenwald now!"

"So you're with Eisenwald huh?" Natsu said with a glare "I'll show you what happens to people who knock Fairy Tail. How about we take this outside?"

The train started to move slowly and began picking up speed. Naturally Natsu's motion sickness kicked in.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After pulling the Emergency Stop lever at the station Erza 'borrowed' a magical four wheeled vehicle. While the vehicle itself was fast it consumed the driver's magical energy in return, and the faster one went the faster ones magical energy was drained. Erza drove, while Lucy and Happy sat inside while Gray sat on the roof.

They started to chase the train Natsu was riding. By the time they caught up to the train however it had already started moving fairly quickly. Before they could try to get Natsu out of the train however, the window smashed into pieces sending the Fire Dragon Slayer flying out of it.

He flew towards Gray whose eyes widened as Natsu who had started screaming got closer. Lucy watched the spectacle and chuckled when she saw Natsu's head banging against Gray's. This caused them both to tumble off the roof and fall to the ground with a loud crash.

"Natsu?!" Erza turned her head brought the vehicle screeching to a halt "Are you alright?"

"THAT HURT YOU IDIOT!" Gray yelled at Natsu.

"Shut up you Icy freak, how come you left me on the train" Natsu demanded

"I'm just glad you weren't badly injured I apologize." Erza said hugging Natsu causing him smash his head into her armour's breastplate, Natsu eventually escaped out of Erza's grip.

"Well I'm shaken up pretty bad, a weirdo tried to pick a fight with me on the train!" Natsu grumbled. Everyone's eyes turned to Natsu.

"I think he said he was with Eisenwald" He tried to remember.

"YOU IDIOT!" Erza slapped Natsu's face with all her might sending him flying. "Eisenwald is exactly who we're after on this mission! Why did you let him get away?"

"But this is the first I've heard about it." Natsu protested

"I explained all of this on the train you should listen when people talk to you" Erza growled.

"Natsu!" Lucy interjected "You said you encountered him on the train right?"

"Uh….yeah?" Natsu confirmed with a nod.

"By any chance do you mean that train" Lucy motioned towards the train which was getting smaller as it went into the distance "The one that is getting farther and farther away?"

"Yeah that's the one" Natsu said a bit too cheerfully

Erza quickly strapped herself back into the driver's seat of the magic four wheeler.

"What did he look like?" Gray asked.

"He wasn't anything special. But he did have this weird looking flute with him; it had a skull on one end of it with three eyes."

"That's Lullaby you fool" Lucy stated

"Then we need to chase down that train quickly" Erza said

"Indeed you do but before that" Lucy opened her Gate and pulled out her Vimana and leapt aboard it. "I'll be watching from the sky. I expect to see good things from you Erza Scarlet."

"Wait what the hell is that thing?" Gray asked

"This is my Vimana" Lucy declared proudly "It's a flying vehicle that can move at the speed of thought."

"Wait if it's that fast why don't you just fly us there?" he demanded

"This is a test for Erza Scarlet." Lucy replied "I am an observer. I will not help or hinder her or you for that matter."

The Vimana began taking off, getting further away from the ground.

"I'll be watching" Lucy chuckled.

"Damn it Lucy this is serious" Gray protested "This isn't the time for your stupid…"

"Gray just leave alone it and get on, we're wasting time." Erza ordered.

"Alright geez" Gray groaned got aboard the magic four wheeler again.

Natsu got inside and took a seat near Happy. When they did Erza set off, with Lucy following closely in her Vimana.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Meanwhile a fair distance away at Kunugi station Eisenwald had stopped the train and thrown the passengers off of it.

"This train belongs to Eisenwald now" Erigor declared as he killed the engineer "Get everything off the train. Luggage, the conductor all of it. If anyone tries to defy us kill them all."

The rest of the guild set to work throwing the passengers luggage off the train as well as everyone who wasn't with Eisenwald. Meanwhile the man who battled Natsu earlier got off the train and approached Erigor.

"Well look whose here" he chuckled

"Kageyama" Erigor noted turning to him "I heard you were coming back aboard this train. There's quite a bit of wreckage, care to explain what happened?"

"Come on aren't you more interested to see what I brought back with me?" Kageyama said pulling out a wooden flute with a three eye skull on it from out of his jacket "I finally managed to break the seal."

"Excellent" Erigor said

"Oh yeah"

"Is that it?"

"Yes this is it men" Erigor confirmed taking the flute from Kageyama "The forbidden Lullaby. Originally it was a tool for casting simple death curses, useful but limited. That is until the great Black Wizard Zeref transformed it into a demon flute. Now its song will kill hundreds if not thousands at once, lulling them all into endless sleep, and its all mine."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Further away Erza was accelerating the Magic Four Wheeler as fast as she could get it to go. Gray struggled to hang on to the roof.

"Hey slow down Erza" he yelled "You using up too much of your magical energy driving this thing!"

"I have no choice but to press onward" Erza replied "We're running out of time, if Erigor gets his hands on Lullaby then lives 'will' be lost, we can't allow that."

'Damn them what is it they hope to accomplish?' Erza thought to herself before sparing a glance Lucy who was following lazily on her Vimana 'And her. Does that girl have no sense of morality? If that flying thing can go at the speed of thought then why doesn't she use it and stop Erigor. This is not a game lives could be lost and she's using such a dire situation to test me?! It doesn't make sense. Just what kind of person is that girl?"


	5. Lullaby Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only. ******  
> [-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

 

In the town of Clover there's a building where the Guild master conference was currently being held. Currently Makarov of Fairy Tail along with many others were in attendance.

"I'm jealous Makarov, Your wizards are so full of life and they're such cutie pies" Master Bob of the Blue Pegasus guild said walking over to Makarov.

"I hear you've got some girl that gave some big shot quite the spanking." Bob added taking a seat at Makarov's table.

"Oh yeah!" Makarov said perking up "You must be talking about Lucy. She's our newest recruit, she could use an attitude adjustment but she's got a body that won't quit!"

"I wouldn't be joking around if I were you Makarov" frowned Master Goldmine, of the Quatro Cerberus guild "Your wizards may be spirited but you've got to admit they go overboard sometimes. Some of the council members are worried that Fairy Tail is going end up destroying an entire city one of these days. Can't say that I blame 'em."

"Ah let those blow hard's worry what do I care?" Makarov proclaimed drunkenly "They're just jealous my wizards are hot."

"Oh my Makie." Bob giggled. "You shouldn't talk about your little wizards that way, you're such a scoundrel"

"Say speaking of Lucy do you remember what I told you about Erza?" Makarov asked "About the weapon and armour she never uses?"

"Oh yeah" Goldmine said "Something about a past life she's afraid will swallow her personality or something like that?"

"Well Lucy as it turns out is just like Erza in respect" Makarov said "But unlike Erza she embrace's that life and the powers that come with it. According to Natsu she can pull things like weapons and flying machines out of thin air or something."

"So this past life thing isn't isolated after all huh?" Goldmine said rubbing his chin thoughtfully

"Well I heard that a member of the Cait Shelter guild was seen exhibiting strange powers, even for a Wizard" Master Bob put in "Do you think it's something similar to Lucy and Erza?"

"Well, well, and here was me thinking that Makarov was making a collection of weirdoes" Goldmine chuckled "Looks like you missed one."

"Ah shaddup Goldmine you-"

"Master Makarov! Master Makarov!" A little blue bird chirped interrupting Makarov and dropping an envelope into his hand. "II have a letter from Miss Mirajane! Sir."

"Ah thanks a lot" the third master of Fairy Tail said putting his mug of ale down and opening the letter.

_"Hi Master I'm glad you made it to the conference safe and sound! "_ the projection of Mirajane beamed at him

"See this honey's out poster girl Mirajane" Makarov crowed to the assembled mages. "Grab some eye candy boys."

" _Oh Master your not going to believe what happened! It may be the greatest thing in the history of Fairy Tail_ " Mira said excitedly. _"Erza, Natsu and Gray have all teamed up together and it looks like Lucy's with them too! I get the feeling that this may be the strongest team Fairy Tail's ever seen. Sorry to bother you but I just had to send you a quick note to tell you the exciting news. See you soon Master_ "

With that Mirajane vanished. Makarov stood still, frozen like a statue.

"What's wrong Makie?" Bob asked

"I guess the council has good reason to be worried right?" Goldmine sighed.

_'_ _I can't believe this is happening! Those three together really could do some real damage but with Lucy they really could destroy an entire city._ _'_ Makarov thought collapsing onto the table he had been standing on _'The conference ends today so I can be back at Fairy Tail by tomorrow afternoon, I just hope nothing crazy happens between now then... oh please let nothing happen.'_

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Meanwhile on the still moving train that Eisenwald had hijacked Erigor was very unhappy. This was evidenced by the fact that he slashed at the spot where Kageyama had been sitting merely a second before.

"Let me get this straight" Erigor said holding his scythe above his head "You allowed a Fairy Tail fly to see the Lullaby flute and then let him get away? Is that True?"

"But it's not like he knows anything about our plans sir" Kageyama stuttered "And even if he did there's no way he and his stupid guild would be able to stop us right?"

Erigor growled and slammed his scythe down just between Kageyama's legs.

"We can't afford to take any chances" Erigor growled "Fortunately we have a strategy in place."

"Right you mean the thing at Oshibana Station" Kageyama remembered glad he hadn't been killed

"We can't have flies buzzing around where they're not wanted" Erigor said "It will be up to you men to swat them away."

"Yes Sir" the Eisenwald members chorused.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Erza was driving through Oshinaba Town trying to reach the station in time to stop the Lullaby flute from being played.

"Stop Erza" Gray yelled from the roof of the Magic Four Wheeler "You're going way too fast. You're gonna overload the S.E. plug"

"There's no telling how many innocent lives will be lost if Lullaby's song is played" Erza replied "I can't slow down we have to stop Eisenwald before it's too late"

"But at this rate you're going to use up all of your Magic before we even start fighting."

"Well then I'll just have to rely on hand to hand combat" Erza replied "Besides I've got you and Natsu as back up."

Eventually Erza came to a stop outside Oshibana station; Lucy of course landed nearby and put the Vimana back inside her treasury. After watching Erza make a fool of herself trying to get information out of the guards by knocking them out, the group learned that the station had been taken over by Eisenwald.

When they found this out they wasted no time and rushed into the station where the train had stopped. Gray hauled Natsu albeit reluctantly with them through the station. Eventually they passed across a platoon of knights whose bodies were strewn about across the stairs in hall some were unconscious but most were dead.

"They've been completely wiped out." Happy exclaimed in shock.

"Naturally. Mere guards like this against an entire dark magical guild?" Lucy asked taking a sip of wine from her cup while walking at leisurely pace "These fools never stood a chance."

The group ran up the steps into the station and encountered the guild Eisenwald all gathered and waiting for them. Lucy strolled in leisurely behind the group without a care in the world. She decided to dismiss her cup and watch the spectacle unfold.

"Welcome" Erigor greeted "Step into our parlour. Fairy Tail flies."

"You fiend" Erza said "I take it you're Erigor?"

Gray promptly dropped Natsu onto the ground where he lay still trying to recover from his motion sickness.

"Hey you" Kageyama growled "It's your fault I got in trouble with Erigor. Get up."

"I know that voice" Natsu muttered opening his eyes and narrowing them.

"We're not threatened by any of you" Erza declared "Now tell me what you're planning to do with Lullaby."

"Oh, you haven't heard yet?" Erigor chuckled floating up into the air and landing on the Lacrima of the loudspeaker "What do all train stations have?"

"So he uses wind magic does he?" Lucy observed with a bored tone.

"You plan to broadcast the Lullaby's song?" Erza asked outraged.

"Thousands of nosey onlookers have flocked to this station to get a glimpse of the action" Erigor laughed "Who knows? If I raise the volume enough I may be able to extinguish the entire town with my melody of death."

"What reason do you have to commit such a heinous crime against the innocent people of this town?" Erza demanded

"This is a cleansing of all the fools out there who fail to appreciate the rights they hold so dear. Who remain wilfully ignorant to the plight of those who have had their rights stripped away." Erigor ranted "They've committed the sin of turning a blind eye to the world's injustice, therefore, The Reaper has come to punish the-"

Erigor was cut off by a loud bang the ground shaking slightly.

"So let me get this straight." Lucy's voice rang out causing everyone to look at her.

When they did they saw that she was now sitting upon a golden throne that was adorned with fine jewels and other decorations. Lucy leant her head on her right hand as she looked at Erigor with a bored expression on her face.

"You stole the deadly Lullaby flute and went to the trouble of having Kagejava-"

"IT'S KAGEYAMA YOU STUPID BI-" Kageyama was cut off by a sword cutting his face piercing itself into the wall dangerously close to his head. He brought a hand up to the large cut that now adorned his face causing him to fall silent, Lucy smirked at him and continued talking.

"-break the seal on it just to broadcast it inside an evacuated train station in the hopes that you might be able to wipe out a small and non major little town. For a reason as petty as rights?" Lucy tsked "What a boring and tedious little plan. Or that's what I'd say if I actually believed a word of this drivel."

"You" Erigor growled at her gripping his scythe tighter.

"If you really want to 'cleanse' this town you could have had your Guild and yourself do it earlier. Thousands would dead by the time we got here, never mind the Magic Council." Lucy sighed shaking her head "But really as things stand you might be lucky to kill ten people, twenty if you're very lucky. But all it would take is for one of us to go outside and get rid of the crowd to take away your victims and you know it. If you really wanted a high body count you could have simply forced the townsfolk into the town square and played the flute then to wipe them out."

At this Erigor flinched slightly causing Lucy to grin when she noticed it.

"In the end there's really no value in taking over this train station when you know it would be evacuated." Lucy ploughed on "So who exactly are you trying to fool with this ridiculous charade? Playing that flute will earn you nothing, you won't even get a minor mention in a history book."

"You think I'm joking?" Erigor growled "I'll play the flute and when I do you'll see just how wrong you. Now then Eisenwald destroy these flies" Erigor flew up and vanished.

"Hey he disappeared" Natsu exclaimed

"Natsu! Gray! You two go after Erigor." Erza ordered "I'll handle these guys."

"But Erza you can't take all these guys by yourself" Gray protested "Lucy already said she won't help you remember?"

"I'll be fine now get going" Erza commanded. "If you two work together then not even Erigor the Reaper can stop you."

The two took the moment to invade each others personal space growl at each other.

"What did I say?" Erza yelled turning to glare at the two who instantly put on a Happy impression.

"Aye" They both said in unison running off to pursue Erigor.

Lucy chuckled as Natsu and Gray ran off down the nearby corridor but quickly turned her attention back to gang of idiots that were still here.

"They ran off"

"They're going after Erigor"

"I got it" a pharaoh impersonating Wizard said extending magical black bands to get up to the balcony on the upper level. "I the great Rayule will take them down."

"I'm coming with you" Kageyama growled as he began merging with his own shadow to follow "That pink haired dimwit's gonna pay"

"I'll just have to catch up with them once I take care of the men here" Erza said to herself.

"Good luck" Lucy chuckled from her throne "You'll need it in your condition if your not as good as they say."

Erza ignored the jibe and prepared to fight the guild members that stood gathered before her.

"Mama always told me not hit girls but I can make an exception."

"I'm sorry ladies but you're not gonna be as cute when we're done with ya."

"Let's do this" said Erza as she materialized a sword in her hand. "If you insult the Fairy Tail guild again in my presence. I swear, none of you will live to see tomorrow."

"So her primary magic is re-quip after all" Lucy noted "She also seems to prefer swords as her weapon of choice. Judging by her stance she's no amateur but I can't say she's anything a special. Not yet anyway."

"We're not scared of you" one of them yelled as nearly twenty of them pulled out magic swords and leapt at Erza "We've got tons of magic swordsmen in Eisenwald."

Erza repelled the foolish attack with only a few swipes which shatter their swords and sent them flying. She then charged at the remaining swordsmen and annihilated them as well with only a few strokes.

"I'll show you" one of the other guildsmen growled as he and his two comrades sent light beams at Erza.

The beams converged on her and exploded sending rubble into the air. Erza however leapt out of the smoke unaffected and leapt at the three quickly defeated them with a single swipe. She the turned her attention to another group of swordsmen and swiftly defeat them in a few swipes. Lucy could tell that Erza trying to be as conservative as possible with her low magical energy.

"Alright now Erza Scarlet show me your best" Lucy grinned "I shall judge your worth, with my own two eyes."

"Erza Scarlet?!" a fat wizard near the back exclaimed.

Erza became enveloped in a glow as her armour began to change. The Eisenwald members chose to leer and wolf whistle as this happen believing they were going to get a strip show, thus proving that only had a handful of brain cells between them.

"So she can requip her armour for magical armour as well as her weapons?" Lucy observed "Interesting, she's really invested in this magic hasn't she?"

When Erza was done she was wearing armour that appeared to be made of silver metal. The upper part of the armour only consists of a small breastplate that is composed of feather-shaped plates that pointed upwards as well as two pairs of large metal wings which adorned the back, composed of metal feathers which got longer and larger at the edges.

Erza was also now holding two swords that were themed similarly to her new armour. She leapt into the air and summoned more swords in a disk like formation.

"Now, dance my swords" Erza commanded causing her swords to begin rotating at a very high speed "Circle Sword"

With one final swipe all but two of the men were down. Lucy couldn't help but feel disappointed that the fight was over already. If the others were anything to go by then the last two shouldn't be any challenge.

"What a bore" Lucy sighed with disappointment "Then again I suppose I should have expected much from a group of morons like this."

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE US BITCH" one last member of Eisenwald came at Lucy from the side with a glowing fist.

Lucy didn't even look at him, instead she grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked it downwards slamming his face into the left armrest of her throne knocking him out cold.

"Don't' speak to your betters unless spoken to mongrel" Lucy said glancing down towards him seeing that his nose had shattered as blood was pouring out of it "And look at that, you got your filthy blood on my throne. I'll have to clean it now"

She then refocused on Erza who had just finished off another attacker leaving only the chubby one left to deal with.

"Forget this I'm outta here" the chubby wizard yelled scurrying out of the room like a frightened mouse.

Lucy promptly stood up from her throne which she sent back into the Gate of Babylon, while making a mental note to clean it later. She strolled calmly across towards Erza, not caring when she stepped on one of the defeat Eisenwald members.

"I imagine that fatso is going to try and find Erigor. Ah well it's not my problem anyway." Lucy said as she finally got over to Erza who had sunk to one knee and began panting. "But just look at you."

Erza looked up at Lucy and gave her a glare that would make most people back off. Lucy however was not most people and simply grinned in response to the glare.

"You're on knees and out breath. Your magical energy is all but gone" Lucy pointed out "You wasted far too much power on that vehicle and now you're paying for it."

"If….I…hadn't…" Erza gasped out trying to catch her breath as she gulped down air "Then we….wouldn't have….a chance of stopping Erigor…from….playing….the Lullaby."

"You poor deluded fool" Lucy sighed shaking her head "You haven't realised it yet."

"Realised…what?" Erza demanded

"I think you'll see soon enough." Lucy responded "But what are you going to do about that crowd of people out the station? Even without the loudspeakers Lullaby's song could still kill those people if played from outside, I suppose."

Erza waited for a few moments until she'd caught her breath. Her magical energy was returning slowly but surely. It wasn't enough for a major fight but that would change given time.

"I'll just have to get rid of them then, won't I?" Erza said standing up.

"And how will you do that?" Lucy asked raising an eyebrow

"Simple" Erza replied as began slowly making her off the platform. "I'll have to make them panic."

"This should be entertaining" Lucy chuckled as she followed Erza out of the platform and to another part of the station.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Meanwhile Natsu and Gray where sprinting at full speed down a corridor in hopes of catching up to Erigor. Neither of them were particularly happy about being forced to work together by Erza.

"I can't believe she's making us work together." Gray complained sprinting alongside Natsu "What was she thinking?"

"Obviously she wasn't thinking" Natsu replied "Everyone knows that fire and ice don't mix"

"Why does she have to be so damn bossy?" Gray demanded narrowing his eyes at Natsu.

"She should ask us to do stuff instead of ordering us around" Natsu agreed glaring at Gray while coming to a stop alongside him.

"I don't need your help I can handle Erigor all by myself." the two yelled at each other in unison "Are you copying me?!"

The two turned their attention to a sign which showed what path the corridor lead to where. The path to the left lead to the old line, while the path to the right lead to the new line.

"Which way do we go?" Natsu asked

"I guess we'll have to split up to find out" Gray replied

The two walked and turned down the corridor each facing a different direction.

"Natsu" the Fire Dragon Slayer turned to face the Ice Wizard at hearing his name "We're up against an evil freak whose getting ready to unleash a deadly spell. If you find him give him a thrashing."

"You don't have to worry about that" Natsu smirked at Gray who'd turned to face him "I've got a bone to pick that jerk for messing with Fairy Tail. I'm gonna burn him to a crisp."

The two exchanged grins before glaring and turning away from each other.

"Don't die on me" Gray mumbled causing Natsu to look at him having not caught what Gray had said "Nothing, later looser."

With that last insult Gray ran off leaving Natsu to pursue him own path to find Erigor. As he ran down the corridor he noticed a loudspeaker and was reminded of what Erigor said on the train platform.

"If Erigor's going to broadcast the Lullaby through the speaker system, then he'll need to do it from the broadcast studio" Gray realised.

He then began running down the corridors following the signs until he reached the broadcast studio. Gray kicked the door smashing it in half and knocking it down.

"There's nobody here" Gray observed as he walked into the room and looking around "This is the only place he could broadcast Lullaby through the speaker system. But if he's not here then where-"

He suddenly dodged to the side avoiding a pair of black bandages which smashed the floor where he previously stood.

"That's a pretty good guess pal" the headdress wearing wizard said as he hanging down from the ceiling using the magic bandage's which extended from his right hand "But our plan isn't as obvious as you might think."

"So tell me what the plan is and you won't get hurt." Gray smirked getting ready to fight

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"If you value your lives then you will leave this station at once. This station has been taken over by evil wizards." Erza declared bluntly through a megaphone from a balcony that was high up on the station "They are threatening to broadcast a deadly spell over the loudspeakers that will kill everyone here. I beg you run as far away as you can."

After a few seconds of disbelief Erza's declaration had the desired effect and the curious crowd of people panicked and began running in all directions as far away from the station as they could get. Lucy leant on the balcony and watched the chaos down below with a grin on her face.

"Hey lady why would you make everyone panic like that?" a nearby station officer demanded.

"I'd rather that than watch all of these people die" Erza answered calmly "In fact all of you gentlemen need to evacuate as well."

The three station officers gaped at Erza in disbelief as she watched the crowd of people vanish from sight.

"Now that I've cleared everyone from the train station I wonder what Erigor's next move will be."

"You still don't understand do you?" Lucy chuckled glancing down at the empty streets causing Erza to look at her "She really needs to learn to look at the bigger picture doesn't she? Erigor"

True to Lucy's word Erigor appeared floating in front of them.

"Erigor!" Erza exclaimed surprised to see him revealing himself

"You're pretty perceptive aren't you?" Erigor chuckled "And you're smarter then the rest of these Fairy Tail flies. I'll bet you've already figured this out haven't you?"

"While I may not know your true objective I had a feeling that this train station was not your target." Lucy grinned "And as usual I was correct, meaning that you taking over this station was to lure us here so you could trap us am I correct?"

"Very good but tell me something" Erigor clapped "if you figured that out why not warn your friends sooner?"

"You are mistaken they are not my friends" Lucy answered coolly

"Oh? I was under the impression that Fairy Tail believed in that friendship and family nonsense." Erigor chuckled causing Erza to tighten her fist in anger "Was I mistaken?"

"I can't say anything about the others but I myself am here as an evaluator." Lucy explained walking back to the wall of the station and leaning against it "I've heard a lot about Titania Erza and her legendary power. However all that talk is meaningless to me. I will not acknowledge her until I've seen her worth or lack thereof with my own eyes. I do not like associating myself with the weak unless they my subjects or vassals."

"So you you're here to see Titania's strength in action?" Erigor laughed "I can appreciate not wanting to be surrounded by weaklings. Well this has been fun but I've always wanted to fight the Queen of the Fairies so you could see her strength that way but unfortunately I don't have time to play with her right now."

Erigor raised his palm and pushed Erza back towards the station which was suddenly surrounded by a powerful tornado made of wind. Erza charged in an attempt to break it but was flung backwards into the wall of the station.

"It's useless you'll never get past my Wind Wall" Erigor declared "You see its one way only if you try to escape the wind will tear you apart."

"What is the meaning of this you scoundrel?" Erza demanded

"Weren't you paying attention?" Erigor laughed "This was a trap and you Fairy Tail fools fell for it. Well I've got be going now I'm late for an appointment."

With that Erigor flew off and out of sight.

"Get back here" Erza yelled "Damn you Erigor I will stop you."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Gray meanwhile had cornered Rayule and grabbed him by his collar and slammed him into the wall.

"Why don't I get straight to the point here buddy tell me what the plan is or else" Gray demanded glaring at him.

"We knew you pests would cause problems so we lured you here and trapped you" Rayule explained smugly "The only reason we took over this station was to block traffic to the final stop. We didn't want any trains getting into Clover Station."

"Oh yeah. Why?" Gray pressed.

"Cause that's where it's going down." Rayule continued "Clover's just beyond a giant canyon and this train line is the only way in or out of town unless you're able to fly like Erigor."

"So Lullaby is in Clover?" Gray asked

"You know what else is there right now?" Rayule chuckled as his bandages began to move "Think hard and you'll get it."

Gray was sent flying back by a swipe from the bandages which he managed to block.

"Clover, that's where the conference is being held,." Gray realised "So this was their plan all along they're targeting the Guild Masters."

"So you've finally figured it out huh?" Rayule laughed as he readied all of his bandages to fight. "Well it's too late to stop us now."

Rayule lunged at Gray and attacked him again. He managed to block the attack with his arms but was still hit.

"You Eisenwald thugs must be pretty brave taking on such a powerful group of wizards" Gray yelled

"Those ignorant old fogies won't even know what hit 'em once Lullaby's song starts playing." Rayule explained "There's no Erigor's plan will fail!"

He launched his bandages again and managed to bind Gray in place.

"You and your little Fairy friends are stuck in this station so there's nothing you can do about it" Rayule ranted "Soon we'll have our revenge on everyone who tried to keep us down. When we're done they'll be completely wiped out."

Gray didn't answer, instead he focused his magic through his hands and froze the bandages and shattered them easily breaking free now that they were no long elastic.

"That's not gonna happen" Gray declared as he began freezing Rayule and walked towards him "Now get this straight when you mess with the Guild Master's then you mess with all of us. They may be old fogies but they're the closest thing we have to parents."

Gray stopped and put his hand on Rayule's face and froze him completely. He then turned on his heel and walked through the hole that had been made in the wall earlier.

"When I get my hands on them I'll show them that Fairy Tail can be more terrifying than any Dark Guild" Gray vowed as he walked away to regroup with the others.


	6. Lullaby Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only. ******  
> [-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

 

Back on the trashed train platform Lucy was watching Erza attempt to interrogate one of the semi conscious Eisenwald thugs. So far she was having no luck getting the information she wanted.

"Just forget about it lady" the thug she was grabbing said "I already told you, no one is 'maintaining' Erigor's wind barrier. You and your friends are trapped here."

"Erza" she and Lucy looked up to see Gray on a walkway above them.

"What are you doing here?" Erza demanded with a slight glare at the ice wizard "I thought you were with Natsu."

"We decided to split up, never mind that now" Gray explained "Listen I just found out that Eisenwald's real target is Clover the next town up. Erigor's headed towards the conference as we speak he's planning to use Lullaby to kill the Guild Master's."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Erza growled glaring at the Eisenwald thug she was holding with a deathly aura causing him to shiver.

"We have a problem the station is surrounded by a wind barrier." Erza told him

"Yeah I know I saw it earlier" Gray said "If you try to break through it then it'll make mincemeat out of you."

"Yes I know I tried that earlier" Erza said causing Gray to notice that she was holding her right arm.

"Woah is your arm ok?" he asked

"That's not important, what is important is getting out of here" Erza said waving his concerns off "We must stop Erigor before he reaches the Guild Masters conference."

Erza stopped to think as Gray made his way down to them.

"Wait a minute" she paused and widened her eyes in realisation "I remember them talking about someone named Kage back at the bar. We have to find that man Gray he was the one who broke Lullaby's seal."

"A dispeller eh?" Lucy chimed in "Well a seal breaking wizard could get rid of that barrier outside but why would he help you?"

"I'll worry about that when I've found him" Erza said "Now let's start searching."

Erza and Gray walked off to try and find this Kage that they needed Lucy trailed behind them absently returning the sword she'd shot at said wizard back into her Gate.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"ERIGOR!" Natsu bellowed smashing his way into random rooms in an attempt to find the Eisenwald leader "COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!"

Kageyama hung down from one of his shadows on the ceiling and sweat dropped as he watched Natsu trash the station.

"Hasn't this idiot ever heard of using a door?" Kageyama wondered as Natsu smashed down another wall only to fail at finding his target again.

"Where is he?" Natsu wondered as he found yet another empty room oblivious to the person sneaking up on him.

'Now that Erigor's made it out safely this kid doesn't pose much of a threat' Kageyama thought 'I could just let him go but where would be the fun in that?'

He attacked Natsu with several fist shaped shadows sending Natsu into a stack of crates.

"There I've wanted to do that for a while now" Kageyama grinned as Natsu struggled to get himself unstuck. "Had enough Fairy Tail insect?"

When Natsu did free himself his head stuck through a poster for a theme park.

"NOT YOU AGAIN!" Natsu yelled

"Wow you look like an idiot" Kageyama chuckled.

"Ah shut it doggy" Natsu grumbled

"Get it right it's Kage" Kageyama yelled angrily stomping his foot "The name is Kage"

"Same thing really" Natsu mumbled

"Anyway I think I've got you all figured out now" Kageyama said smugly "You eat flames to increase your power isn't that your big trick? It shouldn't be that hard to stamp out."

Natsu's head burst into flames free it from the poster and its frame.

"Now I really want to teach you a lesson but I don't have the time" Natsu yelled "Tell me where Erigor is."

"You think I'm just gonna tell you that?" Kageyama asked "If you really want to know then you're gonna have to beat it out of me. **Knuckle Shadow** "

Three fist shaped shadows attacked Natsu who managed to block the attack with his arms.

"So I get to knock you around and I get the info I want?" Natsu laughed "That's killing two birds with one stone. I'm getting all fired up."

Kageyama engaged Natsu sending more and more Knuckle Shadows at Natsu who dodged all of the fists without a single glancing blow. This only served to annoy Kageyama more so he changed tactics.

"Alright Mr Fairy let's see how you handle this" Kageyama put his hand on the ground a magic circle formed under it.

From the circle emerged fifteen shadowy snakes which all leapt at Natsu.

"There's no escape this time" Kageyama yelled "They'll chase you to the ends of the earth."

"I've got this" Natsu slammed both of knuckles together. " **Fire Dragons Wing Attack** "

Natsu jumped into the air and then ignited two streams of fire from his hands he then swung the streams and brought them down on the snake's causing an explosion.

"Impossible he took them all out with one shot" Kageyama took a step backwards "I didn't think that wizards like this really existed."

"Are you ready to talk?" Natsu asked with a flame swirling around his right fist "If not then I've got a fireball with your name on it."

"No….you're a monster" Kageyama yelled as he was consumed by a fireball.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

As Erza and Gray continued their search with Lucy following they abruptly stopped as the whole building shook.

"Was that him?" Gray asked

"It would seem that Natsu has found our shadowy dispeller" Lucy chuckled

"Knowing that idiot he's probably toasted the guy" Gray sighed

"Come let's find him quickly" Erza ordered running off in the direction that she felt the quaking come from with Gray and Lucy quickly following.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Back with Natsu, Kageyama had been swiftly defeat after Natsu's attack had not only burnt him but sent him through a wall.

"Ah man look at what you made me do" Natsu complained stepping through the dust cloud made by the rubble of the destroyed wall "I was trying not to wreck the place this time. Anyway I feel better. Sorry I had to take you down Diorama."

" I told you its Kageyama you idiot" Kageyama groaned with annoyance.

"Whatever, tell me where Erigor is or you're gonna get toasted" Natsu demanded threateningly.

"He's long gone you idiot" Kageyama chuckled "He's not even in this station anymore."

" What did you say?" Natsu snapped "Then where is he?"

"He's on his way to Clover where all those Guild Master's are gathered" Kageyama gloated "Take a guess what he's going to do with the deadly Lullaby. Thanks to the Wind Barrier outside you and your friends are stuck here"

"Tell me how to get through that Wind Barrier or else" Natsu growled grabbing Kageyama up by his collar

"Why would I do that?" Kageyama chuckled "Besides Erigor would tear you to pieces."

"Not if I burn him to a crisp first" Natsu declared with a fire in his eyes.

" Fine then have it your way **Dispel Shadow** " Kageyama cast a spell on Natsu causing him to glow for a few seconds before it vanished "There now you and one other can pass through the wind barrier. Go ahead and fight Erigor it'll be the last thing you ever do Fairy Tail fly"

"Natsu" Erza's voice called causing said wizard to look back and see Erza charging his way "Do not harm him we need him alive."

" Whatever I did I'm sorry" Natsu cowered when Erza leapt with her sword drawn.

She went past him however and implanted her sword in the wall near Kageyama's neck.

"You will dispel the wind barrier and you will do so without complaint" Erza ordered glaring at Kageyama dead in the eyes.

"Understood?"

After shivering in fear Kageyama finally agreed.

"Fine I'll dispel it" Kageyama agreed reluctantly.

However as he did so a magic circle appeared on his chest and a hand emerged out of it, it remained for a few seconds before withdrawing back from whence it came.

"Karacka you…bastard" Kageyama cursed falling to ground and beginning to bleed greatly due to the wound.

"Kage don't you die on me" Erza yelled "We need you to dispel the wind barrier."

"Shit we're loosing him Erza" Gray cursed.

"How could you do that to one of your friends?" Natsu demanded causing Karacka to snap out of his shock and look towards Natsu "He was a member of your guild and you tried to kill him."

Natsu's rage exploded and attacked the fat wizard with a flaming punch which crashed through the wall even as he tried to escape. After he did he remembered what Kageyama had done and grabbed Happy.

"Come on Happy" he said

"Where are we going Natsu?" Happy asked in Natsu's grasp

"After Erigor" Natsu replied running out of sight.

"The wind barrier won't let you out you idiot" Gray yelled after him "He'll just have to learn the hard way."

Lucy looked out of a nearby window and watched with interest as Natsu with Happy in his grasp ran outside and passed through the wind barrier.

"My look at that" Lucy chuckled "He passed through the barrier."

"Say what?" Gray demanded looking out of the window and seeing Natsu's leaving the wind barrier "Hey that idiot left us here. That flame moron."

"With some luck he'll catch up to Erigor and maybe even slow him down enough for us to catch up" Erza said. "Now come on help me with Kage."

"The Idiot versus the Reaper?" Lucy pondered "I wonder what that flame brain can do when faced with such an opponent."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Meanwhile in Clover Canyon Erigor stood on the railway tracks looking in the direction of Clover.

"I'm so close to Clover and the Guild Master's I can taste it" Erigor chuckled "And what's more the Magic energy I used creating the Wind Barrier has almost completely returned to me."

Erigor then cast a spell and began flying towards Clover again intent on murdering the Guild Masters.

'There is one thing that bothers me though.' Erigor thought to himself as he sped onwards 'That girl with the long hair and eye's like blood. She was able to figure out that the station was a trap all along. So why didn't she warn her fellow flies? It's like she didn't care what happened despite the seriousness of it all. She's not like a regular legal guild wizard who care about justice and truth and all that nonsense. No she's someone that's driven entirely by her own whims. To do what she wants when she wants to do it. So why? Why would she restrict herself to a legal guild and shackle herself with all their rules. There has to be something about that girl that I'm missing. Who or what is she?'

Erigor was shaken out his thoughts by the sound of someone screaming. He looked back and was hit by the pink haired fire wizard who was holding onto a flying blue cat.

"DIDN'T KNOW THAT CATS COULD FLY AT MACH SPEED DID YOU?!" Natsu yelled sending Erigor crashing into the tracks again.

"You again?!" Erigor growled recovering from the impact "So you got out of the wind barrier did you? Very well then if want to be reaped by Erigor then so be it."

"Bring it on" Natsu yelled placing an exhausted Happy on the ground "I'm all fired up"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Damn it" Gray cursed as he stood looking outwards towards the wind barrier which surrounded the station. "We have to find a way out of here. There's no way that idiot Natsu can beat Erigor by himself"

"That's easier said than done" Erza stated "That wind barrier is keeping us completely trapped in here and brute force just won't work on it. On top of that Erigor is headed to Clover by air so there's no guarantee that Natsu will be able to catch up to him."

"I'm pretty sure we can catch up to him on the Magic Four Wheeler." Gray said "But we can't do that until we figure out how to get past this thing."

Lucy approached the barrier and stared at it lost in thought.

'Natsu was supposedly raised by a dragon.' She thought to herself 'Back in my past life Dragons were Phantasmal Beasts of unparalleled power, only the truly greatest could even hope to match them. But I don't know about the dragons of this world except what I've read about them. If he was truly taught and raised by one then I must see his strength for myself. After all the only way to see someone's true power is to pit them against an opponent who can actually push them to their limits. I don't want to miss this opportunity to see what a Dragon Slayer can do.'

With her course decided she stepped closer to the Wind Barrier before stopping short of it. She was then enveloped in a golden glow and after a few seconds she was wearing a female version of her past life's signature magic resistant Golden Armour.

"Erza Scarlet" Lucy called out as she stuck her armoured hand into the Wind Barrier which to their surprise didn't hurt her or even repel her but the winds were starting to buckle around her hand "This battle is your test. I said I would neither intervene to help or hinder you and I have not forgotten that. I do this because I am curious to see what a Dragon Slayer can do, so do not mistake this as me aiding you."

With that proclamation Lucy put her other hand into the Wind Barrier next to her right hand and began pulling. The Wind Barrier began letting out bolts of energy as it tried to resist her. Lucy however wasn't showing any signs of difficulty as she simply pulled harder causing the Wind Barrier to become even more erratic.

"What the…how is she doing that?" Gray exclaimed as he watched Lucy "Shouldn't she be thrown back or be shredded?"

"It's that armour" Erza explained "It must be extremely powerfully enchanted. However gold isn't really used in magic armours because it's a soft metal but Lucy's armour appears to be in a league of its own. I wish I knew who forged it because only a true master could have created such a thing."

There was loud sound of crashing and suddenly the Wind Barrier well to pieces as Lucy tore it apart after which she dusted her hands off and smirked.

"Well now that's done Gray you're driving" Lucy ordered in a tone that brokered no argument "Erza sit next to him and make sure he doesn't get us lost. I'll keep Kageyama company."

"What do you mean get us lost?" Gray demanded indignantly "There's only one way to Clover."

"Just shut your mouth and do as you are told mongrel." Lucy growled giving him a glare.

Gray gulped at the force of the glare and conceded while Erza raised no objections at all.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Kageyama opening his eyes and blink at his bleary surroundings. He rubbed his eyes and his vision cleared up. He saw that he riding inside a magic vehicle with bandage's covering his bloody wounds.

'This means that they escaped the wind barrier and are trying to save their friend if Erigor hasn't killed him already.' Kageyama thought to himself 'But why bring me along? What's with these Fairies?'

"Ah you're awake good" a voice said causing Kageyama to turn and see that sitting opposite him sipping some sort of wine out of a golden chalice was the girl with the waist length hair and wearing a black jacket, white tube top and black jeans. Lucy he thought her name was "I can sense Natsu and Erigor's magic signature's up ahead we're almost there."

"What do you want with me?" Kageyama asked clutching his side instinctively in pain.

"I want to talk to you." Lucy replied as if to a child "Natsu's magical signature has just flared to several times the size of Erigor and I suspect his defeat is imminent. I am missing seeing a Dragon Slayer in action and so far Erza Scarlet has failed to impress me. This upsets me because I wanted to see something impressive from this Fairy Tail guild and if there's one thing that I dislike it's not getting what I want."

Kageyama shivered at the dark look that shone from Lucy's crimson eyes.

"Now then when we arrived Erigor will be defeated that is my prediction." Lucy proclaimed speaking with such confidence that it seemed as thought she was speaking an absolute fact "When he is defeated he will have dropped the Lullaby and Natsu will be too much of an idiot to remember to pick it up. When we stop Erza and Gray will abandon this vehicle to congratulate him on his victory. However none of them will remember the Lullaby and in the moment it would be opportune for someone to say hijack this vehicle and take the Lullaby while speeding on towards Clover to do whatever they wished with the flute."

"Alright but where would you be in this scenario?" Kageyama asked "And more importantly why are you saying these things? Aren't you supposed to be a goody goody like the rest of these Fairies?"

"To your second question you wish to know my motivation?" Lucy chuckled "I'm bored so I want to give Erza Scarlet a final chance to impress me and Lullaby is the perfect tool to do that. I have a perfect memory and I've read all sorts of books on Zeref and his creations. I daresay I know more about Lullaby than you do. To your first question I would be obligated for the sake of appearances if nothing else to stop you. However I might become distracted if you agree to do something for me."

"Do something?" Kageyama parroted "What do you want?"

"When you do get to Clover. I want you to offer to play a song on the Lullaby for this man." Lucy said pulled out a Lacrima and showed a hologram of Master Makarov "You need only offer you don't have to actually play for him that's up to you entirely. Before that however you must swear a Magical Oath that you will tell no one of this conversation and carry out my instruction to offer to play a tune for that man I showed you. Whether you play or not is at your discretion I really could care less."

"A Magical Oath" Kageyama gulped.

Swearing a Magical Oath was serious business it was something that could only be done between two wizards and it wasn't done lightly or commonly the consequences of the Oath Taker violating the terms could range from loosing their magic to death outright. He stared at the hand Lucy had outstretched awaiting his reply and after a few seconds of thought he took it.

"Alright let's begin. Do you Kageyama swear to tell no others about this conversation and do you further swear to offer to play a tune on the Lullaby for the man that was shown to you?" Lucy asked clearly

"I Kageyama do swear" Kageyama vowed as he felt the oath bind him.

"Good" Lucy grinned and then released Kageyama's hand as the car began slowing down.

Lucy began finishing off her drink and dismissed the chalice.

"Y-you had this planned" Kageyama stuttered "But why? What do you get out this?"'

"I told you before didn't I? I want to see Erza Scarlet show me her best. If I must take measure's to force her hand then so be it" Lucy sighed as the car stopped and she opened the door "Be ready it looks like your moment is here."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Kageyama got out of the car and true to Lucy's prediction Erigor lay defeated on the ground. Erza Scarlet stumbled off the passenger's side of the driver's seat.

"I'm proud of you Natsu" she said as she had finally caught her breath

Lucy however was stood to one side looking down into the ravine at something. Kageyama looked and awe the Lullaby also on the ground and out of Erigor's grip forgotten by the Fairies. They gathered around and started talking again.

"While we're here I think we should stop by the Guild Master's conference to tell them what happened and ask them how properly dispose of the Lullaby flute" Erza suggested.

"Might as well since we're so close to Clover" Happy said.

Kageyama knew his time to strike was now and had already gotten control of the Magic Four Wheeler and struck. He used his shadows to jump over the distracted Fairies and used one the arms to grab the Lullaby.

"Kage" Erza yelled

"What do you think you're doing?" Gray demanded as the Magic Four Wheeler landed back on the ground began speeding away.

"Lullaby's mine now" Kageyama gloated "Shouldn't've let your guard down flies"

Kageyama cackled with glee and as he began speeding away into the distance.

"Well would you look at that" Lucy chuckled "We've gone into extra time."

"That Jerk" Natsu yelled

"This is how he pays us back for saving his ass?" Gray growled

"After him" Erza ordered

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Night had fallen as Kageyama had finally made it to Clover. He was thinking things over as he stared at the conference hall with Lullaby in hand.

'There it is now I can finally get revenge on those who still have their rights' Kageyama grinned 'But I have to check that guy I swore to offer a tune for is there. Speaking of that girl just who or what is she? No normal girl would let me just go and do something like this. She's endangering all those Guild Master's lives including her own Guild Master's just because she's bored and wants to see what Erza Scarlet can do? Even Erigor only killed people because he had a purpose but this girl just doesn't care as long as she's not bored. Is she even really human?'

He was shaken out of his thoughts by what sounded like kissing sounds quickly turned around to see some old man perving over some pictures in Sorcerer Weekly.

"There's some hot little numbers in this weeks issue" he said oblivious to Kageyama's presence "Wow young wizarding ladies are so much more powerful than they were back in my day and sexier too. Gah I don't have time for this, I have to catch up to those fools before they destroy an entire town."

He suddenly stood and tried walking away before abruptly turning around and freaking out after noticing Kageyama. He calmed the old man down reassuring him that he wasn't interested in what he was doing however when he got a good look at the old man he recognised him in more ways than one.

'Hold on that's Makarov the master of the Fairy Tail guild' Kageyama thought to himself 'That girl wanted me offer a tune from the Lullaby to her own Guild Master? Holy Crap if this is what she does with people who are supposed to be her friends just for kicks, I'd hate to see how she what she does to her enemies when she's serious.'

A short distance away Lucy, Erza Natsu and Gray had all arrived and could see Kageyama talking to Makarov.

"There he is" Gray said

"Let's get him" Natsu said before he restrained by a cross dressing bald man.

"Come on be quiet you two it's just about to get to the good part." He said

"Master Bob of Blue Pegasus" Erza stated

"Well I can't wait all night young man" Makarov said impatiently

Kageyama raised Lullaby to his lips causing Erza, Gray and Natsu to widen their eyes in shock.

"Oh No" she exclaimed

"Hey keep it down" Master Goldmine of Quatro Cerberus said with slight annoyance.

"Master Goldmine? You're here too?" Erza asked confusedly.

"Yeah, now quiet down. We're about to get to the good part." Goldmine smirked.

With no other option the Fairy Tail members kept quiet. Lucy was the only one who had no problem as she smirked, something that didn't escape Goldmine's notice out of the corner of his eye.

'I can do this' Kageyama thought encouraging himself trying to gather his courage 'I just have to play one song and that will change everything

"Nothing's going to change…" Makarov said suddenly causing the raven-haired wizard to be surprised by his words.

"Wha…?" Kageyama froze at the elderly wizard's words as the old man had turned his heel and turned his back on him.

"You cannot change the fact that those who are weak will remain weak… but I don't think that's a bad thing. I mean we humans are weak creatures by nature. Our insecurities are the reason that guilds even exist… and there why we have friends." Makarov continued, turning to face the dispeller.

"When we're surrounded by allies it's easy to stay positive about the future. Think of it this way… if we're clumsy we may stumble and bump into things, but as long as we have faith in our future we continue marching forward, our inner strength emerges on its own. But we have to choose that path and pledge to live our lives to the fullest. Don't let that silly flute get in the way."

A few seconds after Makarov finished his speech Kageyama fell to his knees and dropped the death flute.

"I surrender"

"Master!" Erza exclaimed as she and the others ran towards the elderly mage.

"You stopped him" Natsu shouted

"Nice going gramps" Gray compliment.

"What the… how did you end up in Clover?" Makarov asked confusedly.

"Master…" Erza began, grabbing the elderly mage and slamming his body into her armour in an attempt at a gesture of affection which only succeeded in giving the Guild Master a large bruise on the head.

"I was so moved by your words I was almost brought to tears." Erza continued.

"Well it looks like we got here just in time to see gramps talk his way out of another one." Gray chuckled.

"Aren't you going to join them?" Goldmine asked Lucy who hadn't moved.

"Why would I do such a thing?" Lucy asked with a smirk which when combined with her eyes gave Goldmine chills "They celebrate far too quickly. Think about it for a moment, the deadly Lullaby flute enchanted by Zeref himself the most powerful evil wizard of all time? Really why would he waste his effort creating a petty thing like a flute that kills those who hear its tune when he could kill en mass himself?"

" **Hahahaha…** " A demonic laughter came from the flute.

Everyone save Lucy's eyes widened slightly upon hearing the demonic laughter.

"It seems the curtain is about to rise on the final act" Lucy chuckled

" **I've grown tired of you cowardly wizards and your antics!** " The voice declared with annoyance.

A massive magical circle appeared in the sky over Clover. A moment later Lullaby began floating towards the circle which was brimming with dark magic.

" **I can no longer hold back** " The voice stated "I **shall come forth to devour you myself"**

There was a large flash of light and the magical circle vanished. In the flute's place was a large wooden creature with three eyes that shone with purple light, two arms, and a pair of legs.

" **I shall feast upon your souls!** " Lullaby exclaimed.

"It's huge!" Gray yelled.

"Waita state the obvious." Happy said nervously.

"What is that thing?! Erigor never said anything about a monster!" Kage said as he gazed up at the monster that had appeared.

"We're in a pickle." Bob thought aloud.

"It must be a demon from the Book of Zeref." Goldmine reasoned.

"Just what is that thing?" Natsu questioned "I thought that thing was a flute"

"That is Lullaby's true form. It's forbidden black magic called living magic, Zeref's specialty." Goldmine explained.

"Who's Zeref, wasn't he some wizard that died a long time ago?" Gray thought aloud.

"Indeed" Lucy said "It was practically Zeref's hobby to use Living Magic to create demons such as Lullaby. Pretty much every demon in the world today can be linked to Zeref in some way."

"Every demon?" Gray questioned

" _Every_ demon" Lucy repeated in confirmation

Gray's fist noticeably clenched in anger.

" **Now then… which of your delectable souls shall I devour first?** " Lullaby wondered aloud.

"Do you really think souls are tasty?" Natsu asked, turning to Gray for an answer.

"How should I know what they taste like?" Gray demanded with annoyance.

"Natsu and Gray get everyone to a safe distance" Erza commanded

"Quit barking orders" Natsu yelled

"Yeah you're not the boss of us" Gray agreed apparently finding the nerve to talk back to Erza along with Natsu

"Just do it" Erza growled narrowing her eyes at the two

"Right aye" the two immediately lost their backbones and ran off to carry out her orders.

"NO GIANT WOODEN DEMON IS GOING TO SCARE OFF THE FIORE ARMY" The captain said "CHARGE!"

"YES SIR!" his subordinates said preparing to charge.

" **You doubt my power?** " Lullaby growled turning to look at the army " **I'll prove it to you** "

A large magical circle appeared near Lullaby's mouth and it shot a beam at mountain causing it to explode. When dust cleared everyone saw the mountain was missing a large chunk.

"Captain are we scared yet?" one of the men asked

"NOW RETREAT MEN RUN FOR YOUR LIVES" the captain ordered leading his men into a full retreat.

"I have no need for those pathetic humans." Lullaby stated "I prefer the taste of a wizard's soul and I'll consume all yours."

"Oh yeah I'd like to you try" Natsu yelled "Bring on big gu-HEY WHAT GIVES?"

Natsu was interrupted as he Gray found that they were bound tightly by chains that extended out of multiple golden ripples in the air.

"I think not" Lucy said using the chains the drag them back near the guild masters "This is Erza's battle alone. Now with a sufficiently powerful opponent I can finally take her measure."

"Lucy what are you doing?" Gray demanded

"Erza will battle this demon alone" Lucy smirked "This is how I will judge her worth."

Erza glanced back and saw both Gray and Natsu bound by Lucy who seemed to be watching her intently.

'So she wants to use Lullaby to test me does she?' Erza sighed reequipping her Heavens Wheel armour 'That's unsurprising; she's definitely Gilgamesh's reincarnation. The more I'm in her presence the more my past self's memories come to the surface. It can't be helped, but I don't want that to happen to me, to be consumed by past life's personality like she has. But I have to indulge her and carry out the master's orders to keep an eye on her. If it comes down to it I'll even use the powers of my past life to stop her if she goes too far. No matter how much I may wish to suppress those abilities. At least I can use that gift Jellal gave me, even if he did change. I know there's still good in him. I just have to find it and drag it out into the light.'

"Fine then you'll die first" Lullaby yelled.

"You won't find me easy prey demon" Erza yelled back as several swords appeared in a circle and began rotating like a disc "Now dance my swords"

The swords flew at the demon and tore large holes in the wooden demon which was none too pleased.

"AAAAGHH! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Lullaby yelled enraged and took a swipe at Erza.

'I don't have enough time to dodge and no time to requip either' Erza thought cursing her carelessness as Lullaby's hand got closer and braced herself for the impact 'If only I had some way to rapidly move myself out of the way.'

Erza froze as she a familiar sensation shoot down her arm, she looked at it and saw that the sword that she was being enveloped in a swirling wind. All of a sudden the wind charged to the supersonic speeds and released itself like a shot propelling he rout of the way of Lullaby's swipe.

"I missed HOW?!" Lullaby demanded

"I didn't know Erza knew wind magic" Natsu commented

"Me neither" Gray said

'Wind Magic my glorious royal behind' Lucy narrowed her eyes 'That was Invisible Air, Erza Scarlet are you who I think you are? and if so, are there others like us who have been reborn?'

"No time to think on what happened, I have to attack quick" Erza muttered "PENTRAGRAM SWORD"

Erza slashed at Lullaby in the shape of pentagram, spreading her attack across its body as much as possible so that her attack would have the desired effect on the demon flute.

"ALRIGHT THAT'S IT" Lullaby roared as it began sucking in air.

The plant life around them began dying as Lullaby drained the life from them. It gathered magical energy in its throat as it prepared to use its melody of death.

"Just one note and your souls will be mine" Lullaby proclaimed smugly

"What the?!" Lullaby yelled with confusion after its attempt at playing its melody failed "What's going on? Why can't I play my melody of death?"

"It must have been all of her attacks" Kageyama said as Lullaby sweat dropped as it hung its jaw in embarrassment.

"Erza punched so many holes in it that she rendered it unable to play a decent tune." Lucy chuckled "I believe that this is what is meant when they say 'going out with a whimper'"

"Yeah flutes are pretty lame to being with." Happy added.

"You dare to mock me?!" Lullaby roared angrily kicking a mountain in rage and embarrassment.

Erza leapt up into the air in order to attack again wearing her black wing armour.

"YOU MESSED UP MY MELODY" Lullaby yelled swiped at Erza with its hand "DIE!"

Erza dodged the attack and flew closer to attack Lullaby again only for it catch her with its other hand and slam her into the ground causing a large shockwave.

"ERZA!" Natsu yelled in worry.

"Lucy let us go help her" Gray demanded struggling again the chains that bound him but they refused budge even a single inch.

"No she must do this on her own" Lucy replied "I will not accept your interference"

"Lucy you need to help her" Makarov said finally deciding to intervene.

"And why would I do that?" Lucy asked raising an eyebrow.

"Tell me why wouldn't a king fight for his people?" Makarov asked "A king is more than a ruler; they are one who fights when their people really need them. Are you truly going to stand there when your subject needs you the most? Are going to let that creature destroy what is yours?"

Lucy pondered on his words for a few seconds before an unwanted memory intruded, it was that of the Bull of Heaven, the unstoppable beast of the gods that caused seven years of starvation and destruction on the earth as it ravaged her lands and terrorised her people.

The memory of the gall of the gods filled Lucy with white hot rage and before she knew it she let a pair of swords fly from her gate towards Lullaby. The two holy swords flew at its head only to be intercepted by Erza who caught both swords swiftly like water in motion before landing on the ground gracefully. It was almost like she'd been using both swords her entirely life.

"A new pair of swords won't help you" Lullaby yelled and tried to crush her with its right hand.

"REQUIP FLIGHT ARMOUR" Erza changed reequipping into the cheetah designed flight armour.

However Erza dodged and pierced the first Holy Sword Gram into the hand and nailing it to the ground which caused Lullaby to screech out pain and sink to the ground.

"MY HAND YOU BITCH!" Lullaby cursed "JUST PERISH ALREADY"

Lullaby attempted to smash Erza with its left hand only for her to dodge and pierce the hand pinning it to the ground as well. With the two swords holding the demon in place Erza reequipped another pair of swords and began running, building up speed before turning and dashing at Lullaby.

The demon tried desperately to break free but neither of the Holy Swords would budge. Lullaby panicked as Erza dashed up its right up and leapt into the air towards it decapitating the deadly demon. She finished the job by slicing up the rest of its body for good measure.

The audience of guild masters all clapped as she landed back on the ground and caught the flute as the demon form dissolved signalling its destruction. Erza approached Lucy and the master as the chains binding Natsu and Gray vanished. She handed the flute over to Makarov before turning to Lucy.

"So what do you say?" Erza asked "Have I passed your test?"

"A king always keeps their word" Lucy replied with smug grin "I acknowledge your strength and will respect your decisions. However don't forget you only defeat Lullaby thanks to my swords. Also you may wish to look behind you."

Erza and others did so and saw that the conference hall had been levelled in the battle; causing Makarov to pale and Erza blanch.

"Wow Erza you really made a mess of the place" Natsu laughed

"Shut up Natsu" Makarov ordered "Everyone let's beat it."

On Makarovs order everyone started running as the Guild Master's began giving chase furious at the damage.

'So Erza Scarlet is definitely a Heroic Spirit' Lucy thought to herself as she kept up with the others 'The first candidate would seem to be my dear Saber, however the way she was able to catch my swords reminds me of that Mad Dog. What is going on here? Erza Scarlet just what are you hiding?'

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

**My apologies if the Lullaby fight was short but it was the best I could come up with. Also if you're wondering why Kageyama let Natsu out of the wind barrier, you'll jut have to stick with me and find out.**


	7. Natsu vs Erza

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only. ******  
> [-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

 

In Era the Magic Council was in session once again. The subject this time was Eisenwald and their near assassination of the Guild Masters.

"The dark guild Eisenwald may have been defeated, but that is only one small victory in a much larger battle." Org stated.

"The number of dark guilds has been growing at quite an alarming rate." Michello added.

"We have to come up with a plan to eliminate them all." Leji piped in.

"But how would we do that?" Belno questioned.

"However it's done we cannot allow Zeref's magic to fall into the wrong hands again" Org replied.

"I don't understand how Eisenwald was able to obtain a tool of forbidden magic in the first place." Yajima said.

"I hate to say it, but the blame may extend all the way to the highest levels." Michello stated.

"Whatever the case, although they're usually just a thorn in our sides, Fairy Tail proved to be quite useful this time" Seigrain said

"They took down and entire guild with just a handful of wizards. That is quite a feat." Ultear added, bringing a sleeve to cover her mouth.

Many of the council members spoke up and began voicing their discontent with Fairy Tail when Seigrain interrupted.

"You may not want to accept it but that's the reality of the situation. In the end the attack on the guild masters was prevented, lives were spared, and none of us had to give up our hard earned positions on this council to save face." Seigrain stated.

"You fool, are you insinuating the council is somehow to blame?!" Leji demanded angrily.

"Enough of this nonsense" Org yelled "Fairy Tail's good deeds are overshadowed by their reckless destruction."

"Then why don't we take the opportunity to discuss the matter with them?" Seigrain suggested with a smirk.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"I was wondering if this fight was going to actually happen considering the gap in ability between the two." Lucy commented looking at the two.

"If they value their manhood then they'd better go through with it." Elfman said

Lucy could see Mirajane and Elfman as well as Macao standing front and centre to get a good view of the impending fight.

"Erza's not a man" Mira pointed out.

"Yeah, but ya gotta admit she's pretty manly." Macao joked.

"If my suspicions about Erza Scarlet are true then that flame head doesn't stand a chance." Lucy stated, directing her vision back towards the fight. The two just seemed to be staring each other down.

"I bet she'll mop the floor with him." Gray said with a smirk.

A flash of light enveloped Erza's body and she reequipped a different armour.

When the transformation finally finished her new armour was revealed. It was made up of gauntlets that resembled dragon's limbs, and a breastplate and greaves, leaving her shoulders as well as her upper arms and thighs exposed. The armour itself was predominantly red but had several orange and black parts with a shape similar to fire. Her hair style also changed into two separate, long pigtails that whose clips gave off the appearance of obsidian dragon horns. Finally, a crimson coloured sword appeared in her right hand.

"That's Flame Empress Armour." Macao stated.

"Aw, come on Erza, at least give the kid a chance." Wakaba said.

"I've heard of it. It's a type of armour reduces the effectiveness of fire attacks by half" Lucy stated.

"Tch, that's not so bad. Actually its good news for me, cuz' now I can turn up the heat as much as I want!" Natsu exclaimed happily, igniting his fists.

"Round one, start." Makarov announced like a ref.

"Hold it!" A voice yelled as a sword crashed between the two grabbing their attention.

They looked and saw the perpetrator was Lucy.

"Hey Lucy what's the big idea?" Natsu demanded

"Relax you'll still get be defeated by Erza Scarlet flame brain" Lucy said reassuringly "I simply want us to change the venue of this fight. I have just the place in mind; it should suit a battle like this just fine. Don't worry the venue I wish to relocate too should suitably impress all of you now come on and follow me."

Everyone looked at each other questioningly then at Makarov who shrugged and followed her causing everyone to follow suit. Eventually Lucy led to a massive yet seemingly empty plot of land at the top of a hill overlooking Magnolia.

"Er….did you want us to fight on this empty place?" Natsu asked "What's better about this place than the street?"

"Just watch" Lucy sighed approaching the plot and raising a finger.

A magic circle appeared and the air began to shatter like glass revealing what could only be described as a palace.

"Woah this place is huge" Cana exclaimed

"It's a palace" Macao said in wonder.

"Indeed it is." Lucy grinned pushing open the golden gates and motioning for everyone to follow.

The crowd followed her through the entrance looked around the garden in wonder at their surroundings. Eventually they stopped at the large ornate doors that were clearly the front entrance. Either side of the steps leading up to them were what would be considered statues if it wasn't for the fact that they were completely life like almost like they were actually people.

"Aren't these solid projection effigies?" Macao asked impressed tone.

"Indeed they are" Lucy confirmed "They cost a pretty penny to have made but I felt it necessary. Plus solid projection looks more realistic than sculptures of stone or metal."

One of the statues was a young woman in her late teens with a slender physique and soft, white skin. She had finely textured golden hair that looked as if it had been sprinkled with gold dust. Her face displayed elegance and regality. She was wearing shining armour with an old styled blue, made from old-fashioned blue cloth, underneath and seemed to be gripping an invisible weapon of some kind.

"King Arturia Pendragon. The King of Knights?" Gray read from the plaque on the projections base.

Erza avoided that statue in favour of the other one. This projection was of a man a tall man standing over two meters in height. He had large muscles and sternly chiselled features with eyes that give off a dazzling glow along with burning red hair and beard. He wears bronze armour with cuffs and greaves with fringes that left his arms and thighs unprotected. He wears a thick mantle, with fringes like his cuffs, dyed in a similar red to his hair. It was luxuriously decorated, and looks like a curtain wrapping the stage of a theatre.

"Iskandar, the King of conquerors" Makarov read from the plaque "I've never heard of these people. Who are they?"

"They are people I encountered once long ago" Lucy answered wistfully

"This guy looks really manly" Elfman said "You know if you look hard enough he kind of looks like Gildarts."

"Hey you're right" Natsu said examining the projection closer.

"Alright come on everyone" Lucy said clapping her hands and opening the front doors "It's time to show you all what I mean."

They all followed her inside of huge residence and through halls that were decorated very lavishly.

"Hey Lucy how did you get this huge place built so fast?" Gray asked "You've only been here like two weeks. But a place like this should take a few months to build at least."

"I simply hired the best builders money could buy" Lucy answered leading them now down a long narrow hallway. "They construction company I used is able to get these kinds of constructions done very quickly, If you have enough money that is. Which I have more plenty of. Here we are"

Lucy shoved open the large doors at the end of the hallway. When they swung open behind was revealed a large coliseum with many rows of seats.

"Here is where you shall do battle" Lucy smirked strolling in "This place make's for a better arena than the street don't you think?"

"The arena itself is large enough for many fighters." Makarov observed "We could hold our brawls in here instead of always trashing the guild. It would certainly save on the repair bills."

"As long as no one trashes the rest of the place then its fine" Lucy consented "Now then shall we get started?"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

All of the guild members took their seats in the front row or get a good view. After Lucy had assured them that none of the attacks would spill out of the arena and into the seating area. Lucy herself was sat in an extravagant looking VIP booth along with Makarov.

"Alright now. Begin"

With Makarov's announcement the match begun and Natsu charged Erza intending to strike first. Apparently very determined to prove that he had gotten stronger.

However the scarlet-haired wizard dodged the attack, after which she swung her sword across the dragon slayer's midsection. Natsu managed to flip his body and formed fire around his foot and slashing said foot at Erza's head, she blocked it with her sword and counterattacked.

The fight continued with the two engaging each other several times in much the same pattern. One of them would attack, and then the other would dodge wand prepare to mount a counterattack.

Natsu was naturally the one who kept being more aggressive with his attacks, however Erza was always a step ahead and blocked the attack before the fight would pause for a few moments before Natsu would attack again only for Erza to dodge and counter. The fight continued to repeat in this pattern.

"See, it's a good fight eh?" Elfman mused.

"This fight sucks." Gray griped, obviously due to the fact that Natsu had not been crushed by Erza yet.

Natsu leaped towards his opponent yet again, opting to deliver a punch at Erza who was preparing to slash at him. However the sounding of a gong, however, caused everyone present to freeze up, even the two combatants. A moment later a rather feminine voice called out, at first confusing those who had heard it.

"This fight is over." An amphibious person stated matter-of-factly as it made its way through the crowd.

"May I have your attention please; I have come here on behalf of the magic council." The apparent messenger said.

"As a result of the Eisenwald incident, a member of your guild has been charged eleven counts of malevolent property destruction. Erza Scarlet, you are under arrest" The messenger stated, her words shocking everyone.

"You're putting her under a-what?!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Who ordered frogs legs?" Lucy demanded

This got chuckles out of a few guild members and a withering look from the messenger.

"Please come along Ms Scarlet" the messenger ordered

"I'll come as well" Lucy sighed.

"I only need Ms Scarlet." The frog person said

"I have business at the Fiore branch of the Magic Council anyway" Lucy said "I may as well take care of it now"

"Very well" The messenger sighed.

"As well as to find out what gave the Magical Council the audacity to intrude upon my property" she mumbled so the messenger could her as well as fixing the frog person with a glare.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Much later after the Journey Erza and Lucy had arrived at the Magic Councils Fiore branch.

"This is the room. A member of the council will greet you momentarily, please wait here until then." The amphibian stated before walking off down the opposite hall.

"I just want to get this over and done with." Erza said.

"Without saying hello to me? Now I'm hurt." A smug-sounding voice called out from down the hall.

Both of the Fairy Tail members turned to see the approaching form of a white-clad man with blue hair and an odd tattoo around his left eye. Lucy didn't think anything of it at first, but upon seeing a panicked expression courtesy of Erza she became curious at that this person that Erza had met before before, and it was very likely not a pleasant encounter.

'They know each other' Lucy thought to herself 'How interesting'

"Seigrain…" Erza growled out as the man continued to walk closer, her previously shocked expression shifting into an angry glare and an accompanying scowl.

"How are you, Erza?" Seigrain asked with a cocky smirk gracing his features, though his words didn't elicit a response from the redheaded wizard.

"Seigrain" Erza growled.

"Now where are my manners? It's nice to see you again Ms Lucy" Seigrain said, extending his hand.

"It's good to see you again too Seigrain" Lucy chuckled

"Should I assume this is a business visit and not pleasure?" Seigrain chuckled

"Indeed you may" Lucy smirked "I'm here on behalf of Lady Kin"

Erza's eyes widened. Everyone had heard of Lady Kin. She was one of the most absurdly wealthy and secretive individuals on the continent. Guild Masters and country leaders had tried and failed to gain an audience with her in hopes of persuading her to sponsor their group with her vast wealth. When she did something it tended get everyone's attention regardless of how minor it might be. Everyone was looking for a way gain her favour. So far only the King of Fiore had seen her face never mind gained an audience with her. Not only was she vastly wealthy but she was an economic genius, she had pulled Fiore out of what could have been a recession that could have quickly turned into a depression. Making her even more south after by countries and guilds, both magical and otherwise.

"Oh and what might our 'esteemed' council help the Lady with?" Seigrain asked with a chuckle.

"She wishes to invoke the criminal indenture law in regards to certain wizard who was recently arrested" Lucy explained

"Criminal Indenture Law. I've never heard of such a law what is it?" Erza asked

"Allow me" Seigrain cleared his throat "The Criminal Indenture Law is something that has existed since the founding of the Magic Council. You see criminal wizards don't get a real bail instead they get a hypothetical one. To prevent Dark Guilds from getting their buddies out of prison these hypothetical bails are usually set at an excess of nine hundred million jewels for minor criminals alone. So the more severe the crime is, then the greater the bail for the wizard in question will be. As you can imagine these excessive prices will dissuade most Dark Guilds even if they were allowed to invoke the law in the first place. So might I ask which 'lucky' individual has the Lady's attention?"

"Indeed it is the Eisenwald guild member Kageyama" Lucy replied casually

"Kage?" Erza questioned with shock "But why him?"

"Simple, the Lady heard how he managed to break the seal on Lullaby and was impressed by his skill" Lucy stated "As such she wants him working for her."

"But isn't she afraid of him trying something like betraying her and running off?" Erza asked

"That's not possible" Seigrain interjected "You see prisoners 'released' under this law are given a special mark by the Magic Council that is linked to the person bailing them out. If they try any sort of aggressive actions or try to disobey, then the mark will punish them. If they try to kill their new boss then they will suffer the same fate. It might seem cruel but it's rarely invoked and even then it's up to the prisoner whether or not to accept the deal in the first place so it can't really be called slavery. After all it's still their choice whether or not they accept their new boss."

"Well I'll get going" Lucy said walking down the hallway "See you after the trial Erza"

Lucy walked away and vanished from sight leaving Erza alone with Seigrain whom she resumed glaring at.

"Oh can relax Erza" Seigrain said his image flickering "I'm only here in spirit. I'm sending this projection from Era. In fact all the wrinkled faces in that courtroom are projections as well. We didn't think it necessary to be here for such a trivial matter."

"I see so you're the one behind this farce" Erza growled angrily "You make me sick"

"Let's be civil" Seigrain said walk past Erza and stopping "I've always been a staunch defender of Fairy Tail. But the elder's are worried that the blame for Clover's destruction will fall into their laps and the only way to avoid that is to place the blame on someone else entirely. You're their scapegoat."

"Enough!" Erza yelled angrily

"Just a friendly warning" Seigrain said civilly "In fact it's another matter altogether I wish to discuss with you."

The white-clad man walked up to Erza and cupped her chin and brought his head closer to hers, staring directly into her eyes with a small smirk.

"Don't let a word slip about you know what… for both of our sakes." Seigrain whispered.

The Council Member pulled back from her and walked into the courtroom to join his colleagues. Erza stayed where she was and glared rather heavily at the retreating blue-haired man. When he was gone she let her glare vanish and her anger subside.

'Jellal I know that you're in there somewhere' Erza thought 'I also know that you want me for the Tower, when that time comes I will save you from whatever magic has taken control of you.'

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Kageyama sat in his cell contemplating everything that had happened during the incident with Lullaby. It was a major pain to acquire Lullaby in the first place and then dispelling the seals that the Magic Council had placed on it. Everything seemed like it was smooth sailing from there until that Fairy Tail fly saw him on the train and then everything started to go down hill.

He had tried to continue the plan despite that bastard Karacka trying to kill him. He managed to acquire the Lullaby and even stole that vehicle just like that scary girl had suggested. He'd even gotten to Clover before the flies could catch up to him, but that old mans words struck chord inside him. The old man had completely drained his will to fight just by talking to him causing Kageyama to surrender.

Then Lullaby turned out to actually be a demon created by Zeref which wanted to devour the souls of every wizard near it. Thankfully Erza Scarlet managed to destroy it however that didn't stop him from winding up in a jail cell.

'At least I'm away from that bastard Karacka' Kage thought to himself resentfully before his thoughts drifted to that girl Lucy 'That is one scary girl, I'd swear she knew that Lullaby was a demon all along. That make's sense, she wanted me to target her own guild master because she knew he'd be able to talk me down. She set me up to fail on purpose knowing that Lullaby would show its true form out of frustration. Her true objective was getting Erza Scarlet to fight but I have a hard time believing that she did all of this just for shits and giggles. No she had something else in mind I just know it."

"Not that it matters anymore" Kageyama sighed leaning back onto his cell cot "With all the charges me and the others are facing we'll be spending the rest of our natural lives in jail."

"Maybe the rest of your 'friends' will, but depending on your choices you might not have to." An amused voice echoed through his cell.

"Whose there?" Kageyama demanded sitting up "Show yourself"

"I'm right here" Kageyama looked and outside of his cell was none other than Lucy Heartfilia with a cat like grin on her face. "You! But what do you want? The oath keeps me bound so what more could you want from me?"

"I'm here to tell you that I'm sufficiently impressed by you." Lucy replied "You managed to break through the Magic Council's seals on Lullaby and you were played your part well in my plan. So I am here to extend a reward, your freedom. In a sense."

"Freedom?" Kageyama parroted "My crimes have accumulated enough years to keep me in prison for the rest of my life and because my more severe crimes have eyewitnesses I'll be spending the rest of my natural life in here, and Dark Wizards like me don't get a real bail."

"Indeed which is why I'm offering you this"

Lucy extended her hand and held a scroll through the bars which Kageyama took it and read what it said. His eyes bulged out of their sockets when he finished reading it.

"You want to invoke the Criminal Indenture Law with me?" Kageyama exclaimed with shock "But the money alone to pay for me would be a ridiculous sum…"

"Which I can easily pay for" Lucy replied confidently

"But why me?" Kageyama asked still shocked and confused "There other wizards-"

"I don't want other wizards I want you." Lucy cut him off "The fact is that you managed to steal Lullaby from the Magic Council without them noticing and to top it off you dispelled the seal they put it. For someone from such a minor Dark Guild those are quite impressive feats. I am offering you something that most idiots in your position can only dream of….a way out."

Kageyama gulped but found himself entranced by her words and continued to listen despite the frightening aura she gave off.

"You have two choices" a pair of chess pieces appeared in Lucy's hand one was a knocked over golden pawn and the other was a bishop "Option number one you stay here in this cell and spend the rest your life rotting." She placed the knocked over pawn down the ground on its side "Choice number two, Become my servant and be greatly rewarded for your services. Know this I always reward those who are faithful to me, also I have no need to betray those who serve me unlike you're so called 'friends' who tried to kill you."

With that she set the bishop piece down on the ground and bridged her hands beneath her chin and looked at him waiting and watching.

Kageyama stared at the two chess pieces and gulped.

'This is my chance' he thought 'I can get out of here but, this girl is frightening. She's not hiding the fact that to her I'll just be another piece on a board to be used whenever and however she wants. But I once heard that there are people out there that have no need to lie simply because they have enough power that it becomes necessary. This girl is one of those people. Plus she did say that she rewarded the loyal. At this point what do I have to lose? Eisenwald is finished and that bastard Erigor doesn't care about any of us. He ran at the first opportunity.'

Turning those thoughts over in his mind after a few moments Kageyama made his decision and grabbed the piece that would seal his fate.

"Good choice" Lucy smirked at the piece he'd chosen and returned both it and the unchosen one to the Gate of Babylon. "As I said my vassals are rewarded for their loyalty. Be prepared Kageyama for your life is about to change forever."

She had a smile on her face that sent chills up Kageyama's spine; even Erigor wasn't as scary as this girl.

"However before that I have some other more important business to attend too" Lucy stood up and began walking away "You'll be released in a few days, when that happens some of my people will take you to a manor where you'll study the rare tomes on dispelling and shadow magic. Wait for my summons, for that is when I'll start making use of you."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later on the trial had ended and Erza walked out of the courtroom. She had been given a hefty fine by the Council but it wasn't anything a decent job couldn't pay. After her cuffs were removed she rubbed her wrists and saw Lucy sitting on a bench with an unconscious Natsu near her feet.

Natsu was dressed up in a ridiculous mock up of her Heavens Wheel armour. He clearly intended to disrupt the trial but thankfully it seemed Lucy had stopped him.

"So he came." Erza sighed

"Yes I don't think the idiot understood that this trial was just a formality" Lucy chuckled "If he'd broken in you and he would be spending a while a cell. Good thing I got to him before that isn't it?"

"Yes thank you" Erza sighed grabbing Natsu by the hair and dragged him along with her as they walked outside "I suppose we should get going before the guild gets worried."

"Indeed we should and I have a mode of transportation that will get us back faster than any mere vehicle" Lucy grinned "Behold"

A large golden ripple appeared in the air and out of it came the Vimana ready to fly. Lucy boarded it and sat on the throne without hesitation, Erza paused for a few seconds before tossing Natsu on like a ragdoll and boarding the Vimana herself.

Something occurred to Erza they took off and began flying back towards Magnolia.

"How do you know Lady Kin?" Erza said "I'm curious because even some country leaders don't get an audience with her. As far as I know only the King of Fiore as ever even seen her face never mind gained an audience, so how are you familiar with her?"

"We are very close" Lucy replied looking at her own reflection in the polished gold of the Vimana "Almost inseparable you might say."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

A bit later Lucy and Erza were welcomed back to the Guild with many happy that Erza wasn't actually arrested, while Natsu was running around like a fool spewing flames jubilantly.

"Isn't he just precious when he gets all excited," Mirajane chuckled

"So Erza wasn't a sacrificial lamb, but a scapegoat," Gray nodded.

"You must be one hell of an ice wizard cause even your jokes leave me cold," Elfman muttered "Hey Natsu, you gonna finish going man to man with Erza?"

Natsu stopped dead in his tracks.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. So what do you say, wanna pick up where we left off?"

"I'm not in the mood right now," Erza stated sipping her drink.

"I'm not letting you off the hook that easy!" Natsu yelled charging at Erza with a flaming fist.

"I swear…" Erza grumbled and drove her fist hard into Natsu's gut "How's that? Are you satisfied?"

"And he's out!" Happy declared

Both Gray and Elfman burst out laughing while Lucy ignored the scene taking a drink of her wine from her goblet.

"Way to go, champ," Gray commented.

"Guess we know who the real man is," Elfman laughed along with Gray

"Sir is something wrong?" Mirajane asked as Makarovs head dropped for a second.

"I'm fine, just sleepy." he replied "He's coming."

Just as he said this Mirajane collapsed on the floor completely asleep.

"Not again," Gray complained, also falling to sleep.

Master Makarov watched in silence as everyone around fell asleep where they sat, some falling to the floor from their seats.

"Mystogan…"

A man wearing armour that was coloured a bottomless black. His was covered by a deep black helmet with a thinly carved red slit. Along with it was a strange aura that seemed to distort the armour and allow no details of the person underneath to slip through.

However before Mystogan could get any further into the guild he saw two weapons being launched at him at inhuman speeds. So running on pure instinct he grabbed the first weapon which was a sword and used it to deflect the second weapon which was a spear.

"How interesting" a voice commented.

Mystogan looked to see that the owner was a girl with crimson eyes and long golden hair who was, to his surprise, unaffected by his Sleep Spell.

"The sheer force of that sword should have torn off your arm." She commented standing up and walking up to Mystogan "Yet you were able to catch it and use it to deflect that spear as if you had been using that sword your entire life."

Lucy stood in Mystogan way as he tensed ready to fight.

"Is there something you need?" Mystogan asked as Lucy looked over and studied him like he was a specimen in a laboratory.

"You've helped me prove a theory, I am not the only heroic spirit that has been reborn" Lucy smiled as Mystogan tensed at her words clearly he knew what she meant "For that I will forgive you for daring to lay your hands on my treasures."

"I do believe you remind me of a mad dog I once encountered" Lucy commented as she went to sit back down.

With Lucy out of his way Mystogan went over to the board and took a job request from it, before going to the Master.

"I shall return."

"No wait, lift your sleeping spell before you leave," Makarov ordered

"5…"

Mystogan began walking away, heading for the door and gave Lucy a passing glance as he passed her.

"4…"

Lucy gave him a small smile in return.

"3…"

"2…"

"1…"

Mystogan disappeared into the bright sunlight just as everyone began to wake up.

"Ah man, was Mystogan here?" Jet asked.

"What a jerk," Droy complained.

"Does he have to put us to sleep every time he comes here?" Levy asked, rubbing her eyes.

"If you didn't know he's a contender for Fairy Tail's strongest wizard," Elfman informed Lucy.

"Is that a fact?"

"Yeah and for some reason he doesn't want anyone to see what he looks like," Gray added, the two still unaware of their hands touching, "So whenever he comes here to take a job he casts a sleeping spell."

Lucy chose not to speak and instead took a sip of wine from her goblet.

"Master Makarov's the only one who's gotten a good look at his face," Gray added.

"That's not true, I've seen him before."

"Laxus!" Elfman said shocked.

"Talk about rare," Macao commented.

"Yeah, you're never here," Wakaba added.

"And here's another contender," Gray said, resting his head in his hand.

"Mystogan's just a little shy, you should all respect his privacy," Laxus teased, wearing his cocky grin. "Not to mention the new girl got a look at him and even attacked him."

"You fought Mystogan?" Gray asked turning to Lucy with wide eyes.

"No, I gave him a taste of what happens when you dare to try putting the king to sleep against her will and he managed to survive and confirm something for me" Lucy explained "As gratitude I allowed him to keep his life even though he touched one of my treasures."

"Your pretty confident about yourself new girl" Laxus commented

"I have every reason to be" Lucy replied not bothering to look at him.

As if awakened by Laxus voice Natsu jumped to his feet, fists ablaze.

"Alright Laxus, you and me, right now!"

"Getting your ass kicked once today wasn't enough?" Gray questioned

"Yeah pal," agreed Laxus, "If you can't even win against the red-head, why bother with me?"

"What're you trying to say?" Erza asked angrily.

"No need to get all worked up, Erza," Gray nervously said.

"I'm saying that I'm the strongest wizard."

"Then come down and prove it!" Natsu demanded.

"You come to me little man," Laxus goaded the dragon slayer with a smirk.

"With pleasure!"

Master Makarov slammed an enlarged fist on top of Natsu squashing him to the floor.

"You're not allowed on the second floor, Natsu, at least not yet," Makarov said firmly.

"Heh, think you made him grumpy," Laxus teased the dragon slayer.

"Shut up!"

"That's enough out of you, Laxus!" Makarov scolded.

"The most powerful wizard in the guild isn't a chick or some hooded weirdo, you wanna know what the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail looks like, you're looking right at him!"

This statement earned him a scowls from Natsu, Erza and Gray but otherwise nobody wanted to say anything to challenge him.

"Ahahahahahahaha!"

Well almost nobody.

The entire guild turned to the source of the laughter which turned out to be Lucy.

"You find something I said funny new girl?" Laxus demanded with annoyance that caused most of the guild to sweat nervously.

"I was just thinking about something I heard, you tell size of a mongrel by the sound of their bark." Lucy said sipping from her wine "The louder the bark the smaller the mongrel and you have a very loud bark indeed."

"You've got some nerve, talking to me like that!" Laxus growled lightning magic arcing over his body. "I dare you to call me that again."

"Lucy stop, you don't know who you're dealing with here" Gray whispered trying to get Lucy to stop, to no avail as she was ignoring him "Laxus is a different league than Erza."

"The whole time you were moving your mouth in fact all I could here was Arf, arf arf arf" Lucy kept on going which caused most of the guild to back away from her "It was very shrill, the shrillest I've ever heard from a mongrel."

"RAAGGHH!" Laxus roared and shot a bolt at Lucy in rage.

Lucy didn't even bother to look, instead she took a sip from her goblet of wine again, raised her free hand and extended a finger which blocked the bolt and caused it to dissipate.

"No way" Macao said as the entire guild gaped.

"She blocked Laxus lightning bolt with one finger?" Wakaba asked incredulously.

The guild broke out into hushed murmuring.

"Erza, did you see how she did that?" Gray asked

"Look at her hand Gray"

Gray did so and saw that on her hand was a golden gauntlet that quickly dissolved into golden sparkles.

"It's the armour she used to tear down the Wind Barrier." Gray realised "She summoned it fast enough to block Laxus attack?"

"Yes, she used only one gauntlet on purpose; she's trying to pick a fight with Laxus."

"But why?" Gray asked still hushed

"This is a girl who doesn't think like we do, everything she does is done according to her owns whims." Erza replied "She has a huge ego and because of that she has become a person who is truly without fear, whether she doesn't feel it or doesn't know what it is I don't know."

"Alright rookie, you've had your chance now we're settle this." Laxus growled.

"NO! Not here, not now" Makarov said with a tone of finality. "If you want to fight then tomorrow at noon at the arena in Lucy's manor. You can both settle this there."

"Fine by me, when I'm done breaking you rookie I'm gonna make you my woman and use as an example to anyone who thinks they're better than me."

"By all means do try" Lucy replied casually standing up. "Try not to disappoint me. I hate fighting people those are all talk."

With that Lucy began walking out of the guild but not before stopping at Natsu, crouching down and gripping his head.

"Don't think I've forgotten you, I'm still angry with you for that Everlue incident." Lucy growled "I can hold a grudge for the rest of your days."

"Aw come on that was like forever ago you can't still be mad about that" Natsu cried

Lucy ignored him and left the guild causing the members to let out a breath.

"She's gonna fight Laxus?"

"Is she crazy?"

"She must have a death wish."

Erza ignored the whispers going around the guild and stared after Lucy.


	8. The Fall of Lightning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please constructive criticism only. ******  
> [-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

It was eleven thirty AM in the Guild Hall and Laxus eagerly anticipating the fight in an hour where would put the new girl in her place and make her his woman. As he took a sip of his drink, he saw out of the corner of his eye, a certain flying blue cat attempting to be sneaky as it stole one of the requests from the S-class request board.

'Idiot' Laxus thought to himself with a smirk as the cat flew out the window as discreetly as it could.

The blond haired wizard moved over to the window and spotted Happy flying down to Natsu. Laxus decided to take a seat and leant closer to the window so he could listen in but at the same time not attract attention.

"Good work Happy" Natsu said "This job is S-class, so if I complete it I'll prove I'm ready for the second floor."

"Aye and the reward includes a Gate Key" Happy pointed out "Lucy collects those doesn't she?"

"Awesome thinking Happy, if I get that key for Lucy she's sure to forgive me"

"Aye"

"Let's go, when were done everyone's gonna be so jealous"

Laxus then heard the sound of running and knew that Natsu was gone now.

'Doesn't bother me, it's not like that weakling is coming back from an S-class quest' Laxus thought to himself as he took a drink of his beer.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

It didn't take long for noon to come; most of the guild minus Natsu, Happy and Erza were present. Erza had taken a job and would be back until later, while Natsu and Happy were strangely absent something everyone noticed because it was out of character for Natsu to miss a fight where Laxus was involved.

Lucy stood in the arena clad her golden armour opposite Laxus who looked pretty confident.

"Hey Master, are you sure this is a good idea?" Macao asked with uncertainty "Lucy talks big, but she's still a rookie. Isn't it a little cruel to let Laxus on her like this?"

"No, Lucy'll be fine." Makarov replied "If what I've been told about her is true, then perhaps this will be a learning experience for Laxus."

"Learning experience?" Wakaba parroted

"Do me a favour" Lucy said grabbing everyone's attention "Try not to go down too quickly, I like my entertainment to last."

"You've got a big mouth, pretty soon you'll only be opening it when I let you" Laxus grinned, lightning sparking across his body.

Several golden portals opened up behind Lucy, swords axes and weapons emerged from them ready to be used at a moments notice.

"Alright, now begin" At the sound of Makarov's voice Laxus was on the offensive instantly sending a large bolt of lightning at the gold wearing girl opposite him. The impact kicked up a large cloud of smoke and the sound of lightning zapping could be heard from within.

"Well that didn't take very lo-" Laxus was cut off as a pair of swords was launched from the smoke one after another. The wizard quickly back flipped out of the way of both weapons which exploded upon impact with the ground. Laxus growled as the smoke cleared away revealing Lucy who had blocked his lightning bolt with one hand.

"Keep at it by all means mongrel, who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and I might laugh myself to death" Lucy goaded infuriating Laxus even further.

"Let's see how you handle this!" Laxus growled and raised his hands; he formed lightning between them, forming a very large spear out of it in the form of a halberd and tossed it at the girl.

"A lightning Halberd, finally something strong." Lucy smirked "But even that is still not enough to defeat me."

As the halberd closed in it was suddenly block by thin wall of weapons that appeared in front of Lucy like a makeshift shield, causing the Lightning magic to disperse amongst the weapons.

"Please tell that wasn't your best" Lucy said shaking her head "These parlour tricks have started to lose their novelty."

Her response was three more lightning halberds which pounded against her barrier of weapons to no avail.

"Mouthy bitch, don't get cocky" Laxus growled using his lightning body to move rapidly.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Loke POV

Loke formerly known as the celestial spirit Leo watched the newest wizard of Fairy Tail go head to head with Laxus who was undefeated. He knew she was a celestial wizard and kept his distance just in case he was recognised or she sensed what he was.

From what he could tell she wasn't a bad person and she must treat her spirits with respect otherwise he was sure that Natsu would be yelling about it. The Dragon Slayer definitely wasn't one to let anyone just suffer if he could help it. He was glad that Aquarius, Taurus, Caner and Virgo had found a good master.

"Lucy's holding her own against Laxus" Wakaba said with amazement.

"She looks really calm" Loke spoke up "You wouldn't think she's facing an S class wizard at all"

"I don't think Laxus is gonna be very happy by the end of this even if he does win" Alzack commented as Laxus in his lightning body form flew over Lucy's head.

Just as he was about to touch down however the weapons that were forming a barrier suddenly straightened out and aimed at where Laxus was going to land. Three weapons fired and Laxus was forced to keep moving. Eventually he was allowed to land when Lucy grew bored of firing weapons.

Another portal appeared next to her and she withdrew a golden key.

'Taurus' Loke thought to himself recognising the key even from a distance.

"Open Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus"

Loke had to stop himself from reacting to sight of his old friend Taurus.

"Alright Taurus finish this quickly, I've no interest in extending this farce any further"

A weapon shot from one of the golden ripples and Taurus caught it quick as lightning. It was a battle axe that seemed to be rather ornate but brimmed with power.

"A celestial spirit is it?" Laxus scoffed "Fine by me hide behind whatever you want, it won't make a difference here."

"Hiding? You misunderstand; I don't need to hide behind Taurus." Lucy smirked "I just think he have a chance to take a crack at you. I have been sort of neglecting to summon my spirits recently. Now then Taurus, time to go to work."

The bull spirit nodded and charged at Laxus who met him halfway an began exchanging blows. The spirit however was doing better than Loke had thought he would against Laxus. He seemed t not only be quick to dodge Laxus fast and powerful blows but also fast enough to counter attack.

"Hey is it me or did that Celestial Spirit's magical energy take a spike?" Alzack asked.

"Nah it's not just you" Cana answered "When he grabbed the axe Lucy gave him his energy not only spiked, but it seemed to change like it made him more powerful somehow."

'They're right' Loke thought to himself 'under normal circumstances Taurus wouldn't be able to fight someone of Laxus calibre, but just holding that axe has made Taurus faster and stronger.'

The exchange of blows between wizard and sprit continued, while Laxus wasn't good shape, Taurus was by no means unharmed. Indeed in the past few moments Laxus had managed to land solid blows on the bull spirit.

"Not bad for spirit I'll give you that but this isn't over' Laxus growled gathering energy for another attack.

Taurus responded by jumps into the air and swinging his axe, he then struck the ground with it, generating a shockwave which moved in a straight line towards the Laxus, splitting the ground and blasting rocks into the air.

Lacus simply smirked and threw a lightning halberd at the on coming attack causing them both to explode and cancel each other out. The explosion kicked up smoke which obscured Laxus view but this did not stop him from gloating.

"Nice try bull boy, but it'll take more than tricks like to-"

Laxus was cut off when Taurus came rushing of the smoke and quick as the lightning Laxus using slashed him across the abdomen wounding Laxus and forcing him to back off.

"AGH! Sneaky bastard you used the smoke as a cover for your real attack." Laxus growled angrily as lightning crackled over his body.

Howeve all of a sudden Mirajane burst into the arena running in distress.

"Master, one of the S-Class requests is missing!" Mira exclaimed.

The guild master didn't seem to register those words for a few second, but after a few seconds he registered what she'd said and spat the coffee that he had been drinking out onto the floor.

"What?!" Makarov shouted, turning to face the barmaid. "STOP THE FIGHT RIGHT NOW!"

Whatever attack Laxus was going to was stopped and the three two both stared at the Guild Master questioningly.

"An S-Class quest is missing? Wonder who did it." Macao thought aloud.

"It's either someone really strong or really stupid." Wakaba commented.

"Anyone have any idea who did it?" Someone asked curiously

"I know who took it… I saw a little blue cat snatch it off the wall." Laxus spoke up.

"It was Happy?" Mira asked with surprise.

"That's crazy; he must've taken it for Natsu." Someone pointed out.

"He's got some nerve…" Alzack stated.

"I don't know about that, but he's really dumb if that's true." Bisca said

"That's a serious breach of the rules. Hey gramps, a stunt like that'll get ya kicked out of the guild, am I right? I guess it doesn't matter though, it's not like Natsu or Happy are gonna make it back from an S-Class quest alive." Laxus scoffed.

"Laxus, if you knew then why didn't you stop them?" Mira asked, lightly glaring at the blonde-haired man.

"Oh lighten up. All I saw was a blue cat flyin' off with a piece of paper in its mouth tryin' to act all sneaky. I had no idea it was Happy… besides Natsu's not cleared for S-Class. I never dreamed he'd break the rules." Laxus replied with a cocky smirk.

The white-haired barmaid directed a look towards the S-Class wizard that would have caused ordinary people to cower in fear of her, she even had a sinister aura to complete the glare that she directed at him, it sent chills down the spine of the other guild members who saw it.

"Hmph… you haven't given me that look in a while." Laxus commented with amusement.

"This isn't good…." Makarov thought aloud.

"Which request was taken by the way?" Macao inquired.

"It was for lifting the curse on…..Galuna Island." Mira said in a worried tone.

"Galuna island?!" Several exclaimed.

"Is he insane?!" Another shouted worriedly.

"Laxus go and fetch him at once." Makarov ordered his grandson.

"Yeah right, I've got a fight to finish gramps." Laxus replied aggressively glaring at Lucy "And besides, everyone in Fairy Tail is supposed to be able to take care of themselves… right?"

"I don't care how you feel about Natsu! The fact is you're the only one strong enough to bring him back by force!" Makarov lightly shouted beginning to lose his patience.

"Sorry master…" A voice called out from behind the old wizard.

Everyone looked and watched Gray get up from his arena seat with a serious look on his face, his eyes directed towards Makarov before next he spoke.

"…but I'm afraid I'm gonna have to disagree with you there." He finished.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Normal POV

"It matters not, this fight is over" Lucy sighed with boredom

"What do you mean over?" Laxus demanded "Are you chickening out because the old man said to stop?"

"No I have determined that you are nothing special, just another mongrel with a loud bark." Lucy replied turning her back on Laxus and began to walk away "Ultimately this fight has been nothing but a waste of my time. Taurus you are dismissed."

The spirit nodded and the axe he was holding returned to the gate after which the spirit vanished back to the Celestial World.

Bolts of lightning arced over the lightning wizard's body upon hearing the girls' dismissal of him. Rage flowed through his entire being as he made a large sword of lightning in his hands and charged at the girl intending to strike her down. He ignored his grandfather's demand that he stop, intending on showing the arrogant new girl her place even fi it meant piercing her through the back.

He closed, he was inches away from her, however before the sword could reach, it was blocked by several swords which formed a barrier much like before.

"Don't turn your back on ME!" Laxus demanded as he slammed his own sword against the swords blocking his path with every word.

However as he went to slam try again he found his suddenly tightly bound by some sort of chain extended from a pair of golden portals above him.

"If you truly desire to challenge me again, then triple your current strength and come at me with everything you have. Know this; because you are part of this guild you are afforded protection. I will never kill a member of this guild of that you can be assured"

Another ripple appeared level with Laxus stomach and out it emerged a Warhammer which began trembling as the force behind it began to build. Before Laxus could do anything it slammed into his stomach and sent him flying until he ploughed into the wall of the arena. The weapons Lucy used all returned to her gate as she began leaving the arena.

"Don't worry, he's just unconscious" Lucy said reassuringly Makarov.

When the dust settled sure enough, Laxus lay on his back apparently out cold. Almost instantly murmurs began breaking out as soon as Lucy left the arena.

"She beat Laxus"

"She's really strong"

"She's a shoe in for S-class"

Makarov watched his grandson awaken and pick himself up. Almost immediately he used his lightning body to vanish from sight clearly humiliated as the mutterings of the guild members continued.

"Laxus….I really hoped that this would make you see…." Makarov sighed as Gray approached him "Gray, go get Natsu and bring him back here before he gets to Galuna"

"Sure thing gramps" Gray replied as he filed out along with the rest of the guild who were headed for the Guild Hall.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Galuna Island, no way not for a million jewel." Was the reply Natsu got after asking someone to take him to Galuna island by boat at Hargeon Port after Happy insisted that they couldn't swim there.

The other guy nodded frowning at them. "Around here its bad luck to even mention that name."

"Well I guess we'll have to keep looking," Happy sighed flying forward towards Natsu. As the three continued from one end of the harbour to the other it was the same everywhere the two went no.

"Hey pal, can you take us on your boat to Galuna Island?"

"Don't know why you'd want to go there but no sailor worth his salt gonna take you to Galuna. Not even Pirates will go near that place." An old man looked up at the duo surprised.

"I found you," a familiar person said in a singsong voice.

"It's Gray!" Natsu pointed an accusing finger at the ice wizard. "What are you doing here?!"

"Gramps found out about your hair brained scheme and sent me to bring you back." He deadpanned shocking Natsu.

"What, why where not in danger yet!"

"If you come back now you might avoid being kicked out of the guild, maybe." Gray smirked.

"I don't care, I'm going on this S-Class quest," Natsu growled clenching his fists.

"Man your way out of your league here just come home! When Erza finds out about this she's going to be so angry." Everyone paled at the thought.

"Please Gray you got to save me, I told them this was a bad idea but they forced me to come along." Happy cried flying behind Gray and cowering in fear.

Both Gray and Natsu having activated there magic towards one another

"I've gotta prove my power to Erza" Natsu growled clenching his fist "So like it or not I'm doing this."

"Master ordered me to bring you home, I'll drag you back to Fairy Tail if I have too" Gray extended his hand gathered a chink of ice in it preparing to attack Natsu "Don't make me hurt you buddy."

"I'd like to see you try" Natsu yelled igniting his fist and preparing to fight.

"Magic?" the sailor who eyed the two wizards in surprise.

"Excuse me but are you wizards?" Natsu looked at him confused before nodding. "Have you come to lift the curse on the Island?"

"Yeah"

Not gonna happen" Gray growled at Natsu.

"Get in" the man thumbed at his boat.

"Seriously?" Natsu asked with excitement.

"No way" Gray objected only to get smacked on the head by a lightning fast flaming fist from Natsu, promptly knocking him unconscious.

"There we go; we're ready when you are sir." Natsu grinned happily as he heaved Gray over his shoulder.

"Why are we bringing Gray along Natsu?" Happy asked

"We can't let him go back and tell the guild" Natsu told the cat "Because the next person they'll send is Erza!"

At this statement both the boy and the cat began shuddering in fear for a few seconds before boarding the boat, but not before tying up Gray.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Eventually everyone returned to the Guild, well aside from Laxus who had not returned after his defeat at the hands of Lucy and Taurus. The guild had quickly become its usual noisy self again with small fights, people laughing and drinking and others just doing their own thing.

While Makarov was wondering why Gray had come back with Natsu yet he could only conclude that Natsu had somehow involved him in his unauthorised mission. This left him with option but to wait for Erza to return and have them returned from Galuna Island by force.

Lucy had decided to pass her time by drinking her wine again and watching the various members of Fairy Tail. There was one who caught her eye, her name was Levy McGarden, she was part of Team Shadow gear and seemed relatively intelligent….for a lesser being that is.

The girl had gotten her attention; she was a solid script mage and was an avid reader of books. Lucy came to the decision that she would test the girl by having her try to translate a book that she had written herself.

Murmurs broke out as the guild watched Lucy slowly make her way towards Levy.

"I wonder what Levy did to make Lucy mad" Cana wondered as she paused in her drinking to watch.

The reaction from other guild members was much the same, a mixture of confusion as to Lucy's intentions towards Levy and a fear for the safety of the girl whom they thought had aroused her ire somehow.

Makarov however remained calm; he had been told about Lucy and her unique circumstances. Even without that knowledge there was a feeling that told him that Levy would be just fine. His instincts hadn't failed him yet and so he decided to trust them again.

This was how Levy found Lucy towering looking down at her as she sat at her table. She gulped nervously before mustering her courage.

"C-can I help you?" she asked nervously.

"I've heard you are fairly intelligent so I want to put this rumour to the test." Lucy replied before opened a portal which dumped a very thick tome on Levy's table, which shook under the sheer thickness of the golden covered volume which had hundreds of pages maybe more.

"W-what is this?" Levy asked staring at the book which had a title that she couldn't read at all, it was in a language she'd never seen before.

"On a whim I wrote this compendium but I have since memorised its contents and it serves no further purpose to me." Lucy explained "It is unique and there is not a single copy anywhere in this world. I wrote in a language called Sumerian, I doubt you'll find anything of that language in this world so I want you to translate this book."

"T-translate it? Me?" Levy squeaked.

"Yes and if you can do so to my satisfaction you may keep the book, the contents should prove to be very interesting to you, if you are as cultured and intelligent as I think you are then you'll appreciate this work of non fiction."

"Non-fiction?" Levy looked at the tome with eagerness in her eyes which made Lucy smirk.

"Yes, everything I wrote down in that tome every word is one hundred percent fact." Lucy stated "It is completely unbiased account; such is my talent that I am able to even leave out my own bias towards the mongrels in that book."

"So this book is about people?"

"Yes, I interviewed the mongrels at the Throne of Heroes in my spare time and wrote down a biography of their lives in great detail." Lucy explained and gestured to the tome "The result was that book. So do you accept my challenge or not?"

"And I can keep it if I can translate it?"

"To my satisfaction yes." Lucy replied "You may even publish the translated work as your own if you wish."

Levy didn't even hesitate.

"I'll do it." Levy replied confidently "I'll translate your book, you can count on it."

"I have very high standards, that tome is on loan to and I expect you to take responsibility if anything happens to it, understand?" Lucy asked as a certain scarlet haired wizard returned to the guild and was approached by Makarov.

"Don't worry I'll guard it with my life and I'll translate it perfectly" Levy vowed earning a smile from Lucy who turned to face Erza upon hearing her growl of anger

"Natsu and Gray!" she gritted her teeth and already began thinking up punishments for them both for their breaking the rules. "I'll go and bring them back at once master."

"I'll come as well" Lucy said standing up and following the Scarlet haired wizard as she prepared to leave.

"Why would you want to come along?" Erza asked suspiciously.

"Because my dear, I have little doubt that you will be very frustrated and angry before this mission is over and I wouldn't want to miss such an expression on your face now would I?"

Erza simply grumbled as the two left the guild.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

It was a little surprise that when Erza went to bring the rule breakers back to Fairy Tail that Lucy decided to invite herself along, regardless of how sceptical Erza was of the blond girls motives. So that was how Lucy and Erza wound up flying on the Vimana towards Galuna Island at a leisurely pace, more leisurely than Erza cared for.

"Didn't you say this thing could go faster?" Erza asked impatience colouring her voice.

"Yes the speed of thought to be exact" Lucy replied wearing a pair of sun glasses as they glided across the ocean towards the cursed island.

"Then why aren't we going faster?" Erza demanded "I can see the island but why haven't we arrived yet?"

" What's the matter? Gray and Natsu aren't going anywhere." Lucy replied with a sigh "Besides I enjoy going at my own pace, besides if those two idiots got themselves cursed we'll just break the curse then drag them back to Fairy Tail."

"I am not happy that they have chosen to break the rules and I want to deal with them sooner rather than later." Erza stated "I'd rather not have that island do something to them before I get the chance."

" Oh do relax; it's only a cursed island, what could possibly have happened to them?"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Meanwhile after regrouping at the village Natsu began making plans after discovering that Gray's former fellow apprentice Wizard to his teacher Ur was planned to revive the demon Deliora using the Moon Drip. Gray was still unconscious after Lyon gave him a severe beat down atop the temple.

"Aw great, Gray's unconscious, but those weirdo's left to destroy this place before we got here, so what's taken 'em so long?" He grumbled.

"I don't know but they sure are taking their time."

"Look up there" one of the demonic looking villagers pointed up to sky "It's a giant flying Rat and its carrying a bucket."

Sure enough as Happy and Natsu looked up there was a giant flying rat, the one he and Gray had beaten up earlier and it was carrying a bucket along with the three weirdo's who were sent to destroy the village.

Lucy squinted up at the mouse flying towards them by using its tail as a propeller and carrying a container with some green slime. "Something very stupid is about to happen."

" I didn't realise that double poison jelly took so long to prepare." the pink haired Sherry mused, looking at the village below.

"We timed it perfectly those wizards were able to make back to village."

Toby grinned and let out a bark of agreement.

"We cannot rest until the demon Deliora has been revived for the cold emperor" Sherry frowned. "Anyone who dares to stand in our way must die."

A small drop of the greenish slime fell out of the bucket and promptly burnt a large hole into the ground where it landed.

"Hideous..." Yuuka scowled, glaring down at the villagers who were panicking. "Who would have thought the moon drip could turn people into these beasts."

" They look like...the demon children of Deliora" Sherry commented upon seeing them.

However before she could command her rat Angelica to drop the bucket everyone heard a loud yell of fury. The voice it belonged to was familiar to both Natsu and Happy.

"BLASPHEMY!"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Back on the Vimana Erza took her hands off her ears which she'd reflexively after Lucy practically screamed down her ear.

"What are you yelling about?" Erza growled

"That rat that carries the bucket of what looks to be poison jelly." Lucy growled in anger.

"You shouted because a giant rat?" Erza raised an eyebrow at the girl incredulously.

"It's not the fact that it's a giant rat." Lucy shook with anger as a fire light in her eyes "IT'S THE FACT THAT, THAT RAT IS FLYING CLOSER TO HEAVENS THAN ME! IT'S BLASHPHEMY I TELL YOU!"

" That's your issue?" Erza asked with disbelief "Not that it's a giant rat, not that it's carrying poison jelly for some reason but the fact that it's flying higher than you, that's why you're upset? Are you serious?"

"OF COURSE WHAT COULD BE BIGGER PROBLEM THAN MONGRELS SHOWING DISPRESPECT THEIR KING!" Lucy bellowed forcing Erza to cover her ears "I WILL SHOW THAT RAT AND ITS OWNER THEIR PLACE!"

Just like that the Vimana began to accelerate faster than before; however this sudden acceleration caused Erza who was unprepared for it to fall off and into the ocean. This went unnoticed by Lucy who was more focused on the apparent slight to her position in the world.

Erza surfaced and began swimming towards shore.

"That girl has really needs to get her priorities straight" Erza growled as she swam onwards towards her destination.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"What on earth was that?" Yuuka asked as the three look around for the source of the yell.

"Angelica watch out!" Sherry's warning came too late as the giant rat was suddenly attack by countless swords, spears and other weapons that impaled the rat in its underbelly causing it to cry out in agony, but even so the bombardment did not stop and Angelica fell from the sky forcing the three wizards to abandon her as the bucket with had escaped from the rats grip dumped its contents and began eating away at the rat.

"ANGELICA!" Sherry cried as her companion died within seconds "Who did this?!"

" I think it we're about to find out" Yuuka stated as the golden flying vessel came to a stop above the village.

From dropped it person in golden armour who landed in the centre of the small town as the vehicle dissolved into golden sparkles.

"Alright mongrels" a female voice said from the smoke which was kicked up by the impact "I demand to know just who that oversized rodent belonged too….WELL?!"

"Er…well it belonged to Sherry" Toby answered motioning to the pink haired girl who was still crying over Angelica's corpse.

The dust cleared revealing Lucy who had very angry expression on her face. She began making her way towards Sherry who had begun to calm down.

"You!" Sherry turned glared at Lucy with tears in her eyes and as the girl slowly made her way towards her "Did you do this to Angelica?!"

"Yes I did, your oversized rodent offended me and as its owner I'll punish you next." Lucy vowed as she locked eyes with Sherry who stood ready to fight. Toby ran to Lucy making to attack her only to received a golden armoured fist to the top of his head for his trouble knocking him out "Down boy"

" Natsu" The Dragonslayer perked up at his name.

"Lucy what are you doing here?" he asked

"Later, you deal with caterpillar brows while I teach this pink haired dog a lesson in respect." Lucy said angrily.

"I'll make you suffer for what you did to Angelica she was LOVE!" Sherry screamed getting ready to fight.

"Nonesense, clearly putting you down would be a mercy to your own clearly addled self as well as everyone else." Lucy stated cracking her knuckles "Prepare to meet your worst nightmare's mongrel!"


	9. Ur and Deliora

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only. ******  
> [-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

 

"I'll show you" Sherry growled as she ran off into the forest "Come and get me, I'll make you pay for what you did to Angelica."

"Come back here!" Lucy demanded as she ran after Sherry.

"Happy get the villagers to some place safe" Natsu ordered the cat who saluted and began getting the villagers out of the way.

"While I take care of this..." He turned to Yuuka and Toby.

Natsu glared and breathed out a large gust of flames at Yuuka.

"So you can breathe fire." Yuuka noted, dispersing the flames with ease. "Don't tell me you're the Salamander I've heard so much about."

Natsu glared at him, beside Yuuka Toby finally stood up and began rubbing his head as he recovered from the blow to the head that Lucy had given him.

"You know we used to be members of a famous guild too so you shouldn't blow us off." Yuuka told Natsu. "We won't be defeated easily. Surely you've heard of the Wizard guild Lamia Scale. In fact Iron Rock Jura of the Ten Wizard Saints used to belong to the same guild..."

Natsu apparently grew impatient and threw his arms out to his sides and flames engulfed both of them.

"Hey cut it out." Yuuka demanded blocking the flames with his magic. "Listen when I'm talking to you."

"Why?" Natsu growled. "You I care what guild you're from or who the other members are? We came here to help the villagers and you're the one who put them in danger. They would have lost their homes if not for Lucy. So that make's you Fairy Tail's enemy and that gives me more than enough reason to fight you."

"Hey Toby, just stay back, you don't need to get involved I've got this." Yuuka scowled angrily.

"Wave" The bushy browed wizard incanted as he levelled his hand at Natsu, sending a large blue sphere made its way towards the boy.

"I'll tear thing apar-" Natsu's eyes widened as he felt his magic fail and he quickly dodged to the side, avoiding the worst of the attack.

"Woops I guess you weren't ready for that." Yuuka said smugly.

Natsu responded by breathing fire at him.

"Wave." Another blue wave of energy collided with the flames and cancelled them out. "The pulsing energy that is coming from my hand diffuses all types of magic. This means that none of your spells will work against me."

"So that's why my fire power couldn't destroy his barrier" Natsu mumbled "I get it."

"I specialised in anti-wizard magic when I was in Lamia Scale and I'm sure you understand why. No matter how strong they may be all wizards are powerless against me!" Yuuka grinned and sent two bursts of wave magic towards Natsu. "Even You!"

The attacks impacted the ground as Natsu dodged. "Oh yeah?"

Natsu burst out of the attack charging at Yuuka with a flaming fist.

"Wave!" Yuuka created a barrier using his wave magic and Natsu's fist collided with it causing the fire to go out. "Like I told you all magic is useless against my Wave."

"That doesn't mean I'm gonna let you off the hook." Natsu grinned and pulled his hand back. "I'll just have to crush you without it."

"Hey look" He grinned as his fist easily punched through Yuuka's barrier. " I broke through it-AAARRGGGHHH!"

"You put your bare arm inside a vortex of magic energy." Yuuka informed him. "Not a smart move."

Natsu stopping yelling in pain and suddenly thrust his head inside the Wave.

"Woah he's pushing his whole body inside the wave" Toby exclaimed.

"Your magic's no match for my brute strength so what are you gonna do now?" Natsu cackled, causing Yuuka to flinch as he was freaked out.

"He's crazy Yuuka, watch out" Toby warned

"You broke through my wave but now you're stuck Salamander" Yuuka said nervously as he tried to regain his composure. "Your flames aren't gonna work now that your inside there."

"But I can still use them outside and you just gave me a great idea." A vicious grin covered Natsu's face causing Yuuka to blink as Natsu's elbow suddenly ignited and started spewing a large column of flame "Fire Dragon's..."

Yuuka's jaw dropped in shock and disbelief. "He's using his magic as a booster to increase the power of his punch?!"

"Flame Elbow!" Natsu finished, smashing a bone-shattering fist into Yuuka's face sending him flying until he landed on his head and fell unconscious.

"That's one down." Natsu smirked at Yuuka before direction his attention towards Toby who was grinning despite what happened.

"Hey you're awesome." Toby complimented Natsu.

"You're about to see just how awesome first hand."

"I'm not scared." Toby answered confidently. "Cause I'm even stronger than Yuuka is." His nails suddenly lengthened and turned green. "Check out my Mega Jellyfish Paralyzing claws! You'll never guess what these babies can do."

"Paralyze you?"

"Woah! How did you know that?" Toby asked as his jaw dropped before he flinched away from Natsu "Hey have you got ESP or something?"

"No, you're just….real dumb." Natsu replied with a sigh.

"NOBODY TALKS TO ME LIKE THAT!" Toby screamed, lunging forward and swiping at Natsu just narrowly missing the dragon slayer. "With just one swipe form claws-" He swung and missed by a few inches again. "You'll be frozen and waiting to die!"

"Wait, hold on man." Natsu pointed to a spot on his own forehead. "You've got a little something right here."

Toby scratched his forehead in the spot Natsu indicated shocking himself to paralysis and inevitably unconsciousness.

"Well that was easy, those guys were a joke." Natsu turned away and knelt in front of Bobo's gravestone. "I swear I'll turn your people back to normal and avenge your death."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Excuse me Cold Emperor" Lyon also known as the Cold Emperor turned away from the huge block of ice that kept the demon Deliora sealed and looked at a short masked man that he knew as Zalty. "I'm sorry to interrupt but I was wondering why you chose to spare the life of the wizard Gray?"

"No reason." Lyon replied. "Other than I don't feel the need to shed anymore blood."

"You say that, but ordering your minions to kill all the villagers tells a different story." Zalty commented. "It would seem that you have a soft spot for your former rival."

"Nonsense." Lyon scoffed folding his arms. "I simply have no desire to get anymore blood on my hands. But if he happens to get in my way again then I won't hesitate to kill him."

"That's good" Zalty grinned "I'm glad."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

When Lucy finally caught up to Sherry she raised her eyebrow when she found the mongrel crying

"You…do you have any idea what you've done?" Sherry sobbed. "Because of you, the Cold Emperor will no longer be able to trust me, he won't love me anymore!"

"Absurd, all these tears for love and a rat?" Lucy sighed shaking her head.

"She's not a rat! You killed Angelica... I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!" Sherry screamed as she rubbed the tears from her eyes.

"Why am I surrounded by idiots?"

"WOOD DOLL!" Sherry screamed hysterically as she used magic to bring a nearby tree to life with a face similar to Halloween pumpkin.

Unfortunately Lucy couldn't really tell what type of magic she was using due to incomprehensible nature of the scream, and due to the fact that several types of magic could bring things like trees to life she couldn't tell what type of magic Sherry was using.

"Get her!"

"There are several types of magic that can animate things like trees." Lucy noted to herself, voicing her thoughts aloud as she dodged a punch from the tree's wooden fist. "But which one is this?"

Lucy back flipped over another wooden punch and landed on the fairly high branch of another tree.

"I'm sure I'll figure it out" Lucy sighed summoning a golden key from her gate "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!"

"I'm not a perv, just a fan of pretty ladies!" Taurus declared as he emerged from his gate at the base of the tree Lucy was standing in.

"Taurus it's time to try your hand at being a lumber jack" Lucy said to the bull spirit "Start by chopping that overgrown weed down."

The large bull leapt as commanded and quickly destroyed the animated tree.

"You're a Celestial Wizard?" Sherry gasped in shock as her tree was made quick work of by the Celestial Spirit.

"Correct, but believe me it won't be the only thing you won't forget about me or this fight by the time I'm through with you mongrel." Lucy stated.

"Well your kind don't like my magic and you're about to find out why."

"Taurus, finish this so I may punish her for her insolence."

Taurus charged forward, but suddenly stopped in mid-step and turned back towards Lucy, swinging his axe at her, this forced her to leap from the tree she was standing on which was split apart by Taurus axe.

"Taurus what are you doing?" Lucy demanded as she avoided his attacks "This is insubordination and a violation of our contract."

"I'm sorry Ms Lucy….but I can't control myself

Lucy dodged, and continued ducking and weaving around Taurus attacks.

"I see..." Lucy narrowed her eyes at Sherry "Doll Attack Magic is it?"

"That's right." Sherry smirked. "My magic, 'Doll Attack Magic', allows me to control anything except humans. That also applies to Celestial Spirits, since they're not human."

"Fool, you are making your inevitable punishment at my hands that much worse for yourself." As Taurus charged at her again against his will Lucy held out the key. "Forced gate Closure."

The Bull Spirit apologised profusely as he went back to the Celestial World.

"I made a promise long ago to someone dear to me, that I would not kill unless I had no choice and it's one I uphold to the best of my abilities, I've never had to break it not even once" Lucy was trembling in fury and gave Sherry a glare from her crimson eyes that shook the pink haired wizard to her core. "But for daring to stain my spirits with your filthy magic, I'll show you that there are things far worse than mere death, by the time I'm done with you, you'll be begging for the release of death that will never come!"

An idea came to Lucy, she knew now that the spirits she summoned would be taken over by this mongrel's magic. But there was one whom she knew would never defy her magic or no. With that Lucy leapt into a tree and jumped from one to another heading for the ocean as Sherry gave chase with her Rock Doll believing that Lucy was scared.

Eventually Lucy ran out of trees and jumped off a cliff and landed on a sandy beach. The Rock Doll not far behind her.

"I don't need to destroy the Rock Doll, just break her concentration on it." Lucy withdrew Aquarius key from the Gate of Babylon and ignored Sherry's babbling about cats and mice. "Time to go to work, Open Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius"

Aquarius appeared from her gate and hovered above the ocean.

"Aquarius, knock that insolent girl off that thing now." Lucy commanded.

"Marionette Attack" Sherry incanted casting her magic over Aquarius "Now she's my puppet might as well send her back."

"Think so do you?" Lucy smirked before turning to the controlled Aquarius and levelling a glare at her "Aquarius I gave you an order, use your magic and do it!"

A shiver went down the Water Bearers spine as she recognised the look in Lucy's crimson eyes. Instinct and fear overrode the magic controlling her and a large column of water knocked Sherry off of her Rock Doll which became inert and the magic controlling Aquarius faded.

Lucy waited for the column to vanish before she stomped on Sherry's arms as she stood over her.

"Good work Aquarius you may leave now." The water bearer did just that not wanting to stick around when Lucy was in this mood.

"I-impossible how did she break free of my control?" Sherry asked through the pain.

"You underestimated her bond with me" Lucy replied "You see her fear of me is far stronger than any magic. Now then onto your punishment."

Lucy pulled out a small vial containing a bubbling black substance.

"This nightmare potion was made using ingredients that can no longer be found." Lucy explained "You could assay it's a rare treasure that cannot be replaced, luckily my Gate of Babylon replenishes substances that like this as long as I have stored them before use. I should also mention that drinkers of this potion have been known to be scarred for life by the nightmares it gives them. Now drink up."

Lucy forced Sherry's mouth open and poured the potion before forcing the girl to swallow and knocking her out.

"Enjoy your nightmares dog." Lucy smirked as she returned the vial to the gate and looked towards ocean as she heard the sounds of someone spitting out seawater.

She looked to see Erza who was not pleased.

"Would you look at that someone is late to the party." Lucy grinned at Erza.

"I would be if you hadn't dumped me in the ocean!" Erza yelled angrily grabbing Happy whom she spotted nearby trying to fly away.

"Oh don't be a sourpuss; it's not my fault you didn't hang to something." Lucy replied stomping on Sherry's stomach for good measure as she thrashed about due to the nightmares she was having which would only get worse.

"Happy, what has been going on here and where are Natsu and Gray?" Erza demanded of the cat who proceeded to explain everything that had happened.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

When Gray woke up, he noticed that he was in a tent, with a bit of effort he stood up and realised that someone had bandaged his chest, shoulders and head.

Stepping out of the tent, Gray shielded his eyes against the afternoon sun; around him was a mass of tents, similar to the village, but it was clearly located somewhere else.

"Oh, thank goodness," a voice from behind Gray said, causing him to turn and see one of the village girls, "I'm glad you're awake."

"What is this place?" Gray asked, trying hard not to stare at the girl's cursed leg, which appeared to be blue and insect-like.

"It's a storage area, not too far from the village," the girl answered, "Everything was destroyed in the attack last night, so we decided to come here for shelter."

"The whole village was destroyed?" Gray asked, horrified. Then he remembered Lyon ordering his lackeys to raze the village and kill everyone inside.

"No it's ok, the village is still intact but we retreated away to get to safety." the girl reassured him "It's a miracle that girl arrived when she did she killed the giant rat and saved the village."

"Lucy's here?" Gray asked "Is she still around?"

"Well, she returned a little while ago, Natsu disappeared; they wanted you to meet them over in that tent." The girl pointed to the tent.

After thanking the girl, Gray made his way over to the tent and walked inside. There he saw Erza along with a tied up Happy and Lucy sipping wine with a smirk, though Erza sat calmly, her legs crossed and her hands folded over her lap, he could tell she was unhappy.

"You made me wait," she said in a dark, tone "not smart."

"Erza!" Gray desperately wracked his brain for something. "Um, why is Happy tied up?"

"Happy informed me of the situation," Erza said, not answering Gray's question.

"As it is," Erza continued, "I thought that you had been sent to stop these fools, not join them; needless to say, I'm disappointed. However, now that you're up, we're going to search for Natsu and then we will go back to the Guild."

"But we can't leave the island just yet!" Gray protested, "If Happy filled you in, then you know what these villagers are going through!"

"And what would be your point? I came here solely for the purpose of taking you all back to the Guild; I'm not interested in anything other than that."

"Seriously!?" Gray yelled, "Have you even seen the people on this island!?"

"I have," Erza said evenly.

"And you're just gonna turn your back on them!?" Gray demanded.

"Their request is posted on the Request Boards of every Guild Hall; the villagers would be better served by wizards who are cleared for S-Class quests. You, on the other hand, are not qualified."

"How can you be so heartless?" Gray asked.

"What did you say!?"

A magic circle appeared in front of her hand, and a sword emerged; she grabbed the hilt and pointed the blade at Gray.

"If you break the Guild's rules, then you will face the consequences."

Gray flinched, but then steadied himself; to Happy's shock and Lucy interest, he then grabbed the blade and placed the tip over his chest, right above his Guild mark.

"Do what you must," Gray said with a steely determination in his voice, "I can't walk away from what I know is right."

For what seemed like an eternity, neither Gray nor Erza broke eye contact; finally, Erza lowered the sword, and Gray walked to the tent-flap with Lucy following him, she stopped when Erza pointed the sword at her.

"Where are you going?" Erza demanded

"I want to see how this ends; it looks to be very entertaining." Lucy smirked. "So put that thing away before you hurt yourself."

"You said you would respect my decisions" Erza growled.

"Yes and I do, but I never said I would obey you" Lucy replied "And lets face it, without using your powers you know you cannot defeat me."

"What are you-"

"Don't play stupid, I know you are a hero like me." Lucy gave her grin as Erza flinched noticeably "That's right I saw your little trick against Lullaby and the stance you use is similar that of someone I believe I know but I can't quite recall who yet. So unless you wish to use your Noble Phantasm whatever it is then put that piece of metal away. Don't bother challenging me unless you are prepared to fight as a Hero."

With that Lucy left, Erza trembled as the girl's words struck a cord inside her. She tried hard and supressed the unwanted memories that tried to intrude again. Eventually she calmed herself and levelled a glare at the bound Happy causing him to panic; thinking that Erza would take her rage out on him.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"How pathetic." Lyon scowled and crossed his arms, glaring down at Toby. "You're the only one still standing?"

Toby nodded in shamefully.

"Those Fairy Tail wizards they're quite impressive." Lyon said as he leaned back in his chair.

"This unfortunate turn of events could put the resurrection of Deliora in jeopardy." A short figure walked into the room and stopped in front of Lyon.

"Zalty you're stealthy as always." Lyon observed.

"If all goes as planned the demon should be awakened at some point tonight." Zalty smirked. "But we have to keep an eye on those wizards if they were to interrupt the moon drip ceremony then Deliora will remain forever entombed in ice. Salamander and Titania are quite powerful they could easily foil our plans."

"As always, you are remarkably well informed, but they can't beat me, not now that I have surpassed Ur I need only prove it by killing Deliora."

"I'm glad to hear that." Zalty said. "So let me have the honour of joining you in battle for times sake."

"Hold on I didn't know you were a wizard too." Toby exclaimed

"Yes it's been a while since I've used it but I've dabbled in a particular form of Lost Magic." Zalty smirked.

"Sure we could use another wizard." His eyes widened when the entire temple began to shake. "What the hell?"

The three wizards looked around wildly when the temple suddenly leaned on one side and stood back as a column of flame erupted from the ground beneath them creating a large hole.

. "What si the meaning of this?" Lyon demanded

"I should have known Salamander would make the first move. It appears we have a visitor sir." Zalty grinned and pointed to the hole in the floor.

Lyon and Toby glanced down into the hole. The floor under also had a hole, and so did all the others underneath, all the way until...

"Him?" Toby exclaimed in shock.

Natsu waved up and them and grinned.

"You know I usually end up breaking stuff by accident." Natsu laughed "It's kinda funny how hard it is when I'm trying to do it on purpose.""

"What have you done?" Lyon snarled.

"I'm knocking this place over." Natsu stated seriously. "Then you won't be able to shine moonlight on that demon you've got underground."

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Lyon demanded angrily

"I still don't understand what happened." Toby said with confusion.

"Evidently this boy is the reason the ruins are now tilted." Zalty explained. "I assume he destroyed the support pillars on one side, doing so caused the ruins to tip over in that direction, this in turn will prevent any moon light from shining directly on Deliora. It's an ingenious plan." He grinned down at Natsu. "I'm actually quite surprised that dolt was able to come up with it."

"So are you gonna fight me or what!" Natsu yelled as fire began shooting from his feet, propelling him up off the ground.

"Flames shoot from his feet?" Lyon raised an eyebrow.

"He can shoot flames on any part of his body." Toby stated with a nod.

Natsu shot up with a scream and slammed his head into Lyon's midsection. The attack failed, however, when Lyon's body crumbled into shards of ice.

"Ice Make: Eagle." Lyon intoned, sending a volley of ice eagles at him. "You can't dodge them in mid-air, can you?"

Natsu breathed fire from out of his mouth and pushed himself into the ground under the eagles. He then back-flipped towards Lyon and flames shot out of his legs towards him, melting the birds.

"What kind of ridiculous magic is this?" Lyon scoffed as Natsu did a handstand and began to spin slowly, burning everything around the room.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu sent the roar at Lyon only for Zalty to make gesture with his hand and the floor under Natsu's hand crumbled, causing him fall through. As a result, the flames turned into a column as Natsu fell into the hole in the floor.

"Very fortunate Cold Emperor, luck is on your side." Zalty commented with a smirk as Lyon landed unharmed.

"What did you do?" Lyon asked.

"Hmmm?"

"Don't play dumb with me." Lyon ordered. "Your magic had to have caused that floor."

"Don't you have ever the watchful eye." Zalty smiled. "But please understand, you are the only one strong enough to defeat Deliora, so it is imperative that you remain safe until its resurrection."

"Are you suggesting that I could fall victim to such paltry magic?" Lyon demanded arrogantly.

"Leave me, I can take care of this myself." Lyon ordered Zalty and Toby as the entire room froze over.

"Once I defeat the demon everyone will worship my name, Cold Emperor Lyon." Lyon told Natsu, who was climbing out of the hole in the floor. "I've worked too hard to let a brat like you tarnish it."

"As you wish" Zalty rubbed his mask.

"Defeat Deliora?" Natsu asked with a frown as picked himself up. "The thing looks half dead already. So let me get this straight your going to all that trouble to melt that ice just so you can fight it. That sounds pretty messed up if you ask me."

"I must rise above Ur's legacy." Lyon sent a volley of ice eagles at Natsu.. "I will not rest until I have fulfilled my dream!"

"Then why not challenge her and be done with it?" Natsu demanded, ducking and weaving around the birds.

"I would if I could but Ur has been dead for years." Lyon growled as he began concentrating.

_The woman who taught me how to use my magic, my master, Ur, sacrificed everything to seal it away._ Natsu came to a realisation when he remembered Gray's words. "I didn't realise that she ended up dying when she sealed it."

"Yes and she'd still be alive if it wasn't for Gray!" Lyon yelled conjuring a single ice eagle behind the boy. Natsu turned just in time to have it smash in his face.

After the cloud of ice had vanished Lyon could see that Natsu had covering his face with his arms and was now levelled Lyon with a glare from his single visible eye. "I don't know what happened to you in the past, but I do know that what your doing in the present is causing a lot of innocent people to suffer!" He shouted, igniting both fists. "Then I'll just have to beat some sense into you!"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"So his intention is to defeat Deliora?" Erza asked, trying to understand what she was told.

"Lyon wanted to surpass her for a long time." Gray told the two girls. "Now that she's gone, he's trying to surpass her by defeating Deliora, the one thing she couldn't do."

"I see..." Lucy muttered. "In order to surpass someone dead, that would be the only way."

"Aye!"

"No..." Gray shook his head. "Lyon is just ignorant of the truth. Ur may no longer be with us... but she's still alive." Erza sent him a surprised glance.

Lucy frowned in thought before smirking. "Of course, Iced Shell turns the caster into living ice in order to seal the target, that's what you mean isn't it Gray? "

"Yeah." Gray nodded. "It all started ten years ago."

Gray began to recount the story of his past, how Deliora destroyed his home town leaving him as the only survivor, meeting Ur and Lyon, and training with them until that fateful day came.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

_The sun was shining in town, Gray and Lyon waited as Ur shopped for supplies and talked to the shopkeeper._

" _Hey, Gray." Lyon looked up at the sky. "How long do you think it'll take us to surpass Ur?"_

_"How should I know?"_

" _She's the best wizard around." Lyon said looked up with a smile. "But my dream is to one day be even better than she is."_

" _Just can't stop running your mouth can you?" Gray grumbled. "Do you really think I care about that?"_

" _Why are you always so grumpy?" Lyon asked of the younger student._

" _Because your all master this and master that it's bugging me" Gray grouched._

" _She told me that she decided to teach you because she see's some kind of darkness inside of you." Lyon explained._

" _Well she's probably right especially after everything I've been through." Gray stated._

" _Well she wants to help you get rid of it." Lyon continued._

" _I'll do that on my own just watch" Gray said clenching his fist as Lyon sighed "Right now all I care about all I care about is getting revenge on Deliora, and once I've learned enough magic I'm so out of here, bye bye ice wi-"_

_A fist smacked him on the head._

_"Keep talking that way about me and you're dead meat kid." Ur growled holding some groceries in one arm as Lyon chuckled at him._

" _I'm sorry" Gray apologised._

_They began making their way back to Ur's cottage when Gray got impatient and decided to speak up._

"So _when are you going start teaching us some powerful magic?" Gray asked with impatient annoyance receiving a look from Lyon._

" _I already have." Ur replied with a sigh._

" _Then what about maker magic is so powerful?" Gray demanded. "As far I can tell that junks completely useless."_

_Ur stopped, frowned and looked at the boy who stared right back at her._

_"I told you, maker magic gives you creative freedom. Once you are able to create your own style you can make it as powerful as you want."_

" _You keep saying the same thing over and over again." Gray scoffed as he stripped down to his boxers out of habit._

_"Gray we're in public put your clothes back on!" Ur yelled at him_

" _Shit!" Gray cursed, staring down at himself. "Now I have this weird habit thanks to you!"_

" _DON'T BLAME IT ON ME!" Ur yelled giving Gray another even stronger punch to the head._

_This got laughs out of both Lyon and some passing people. Eventually the trio finished their shopping and left town, they were up the mountain when a carriage with people passed by._

" _Have you heard any news about Deliora's whereabouts?" one of the men in the carriage asked his travelling companion loudly._

_"Yeah heard it made its way to the northern continent! It's somewhere around Burago now."_

" _I hope they don't end up suffering the same fate as Isbin."_

_"That's where it is…..in_ _Burago." Gray muttered to himself before he continued walking._

_Later that night a blizzard had blown in, Gray had packed up his things however Ur had caught onto what he was planning_

" _No way_ _Deliora is out your league Gray!" Ur yelled at him as he left the cottage. "It'll kill you…don't go!"_

" _Beg all you want you're not gonna change my mind" Gray scoffed, hoisting his backpack over one shoulder. "You don't understand, that thing took my parents away from me! I have to get revenge."_

" _If you leave now, you're no longer my student!"_

" _Fine, I'm better of without you!" Gray snorted._

" _Don't go" Lyon said to the other boy quietly._

_"If I die, it'll be your fault; you should've taught me some real magic." Gray yelled back._

_Ur and Lyon could only watch as the younger student vanished as he walked off into the blizzard._

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"What's going on?" Happy shouted in shock.

"The ruins are tilted, it seem Natsu is trying to stop the Moon Drip." Lucy said with a girn.

"I don't know how he managed to pull it off, but he's the only one who would do something that crazy." Gray agreed. "It's a pretty great idea if he did it on purpose, Since the temple's tilted like that the moonlight won't hit Deliora."

The three wizards and cat looked around and as the sounds of shuffling came from the forest around them. They quickly found themselves surrounded by a mass of cultists and had to dodge the curved blades that were thrown at them.

"We've tracked you down Fairy Tail!" Their leader exclaimed.

"We won't allow you to interfere" another said.

"Come Gray." Lucy grabbed Gray's arm. "Leave this to Erza she'll be fine."

Gray nodded as Lucy began sprinting towards the temple at such a pace that he thought his arm would come out of its socket.

'Lyon doesn't know Ur is still alive. I have to stop him! _'_

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

" _Damn it" Ur panted, looking up at the demon who scowled back at her. "I can't keep this up I'm using too much magic energy."_

_Behind her, both Lyon and Gray were both unconscious._

_Deliora roared and began moving away to another part of the town to destroy._ _One of Gray's eyes opened slowly before they both shot wide open._

_"AAAAHH!" Gray began panicking upon seeing Deliora so close._

" _It's ok." Ur began hugging the boy. "Everything's gonna be fine."_

" _You're here…._ _Ur?" Gray was confused. "Why..."_

_"I want you to take Lyon and get out of here" Ur commanded. "I can't concentrate on fighting if I have to protect you." Ur_

" _Lyon?" Gray looked at the boy's prone form and gasped "oh no!"_

" _He's fine just out cold." Ur said before glaring at Deliora who was walking away from them. "Deliora!"_

" _It's too strong" Gray said as his lifted Lyon over his shoulder "I didn't stand a chance._

_"Get going!" Ur ordered as she began walking after the demon._

" _Wait" Gray yelled fighting back tears. "Why'd you come after me? I thought I wasn't your student anymore."_

" _A friend told me something recently that made me think, she told me I deserved to be happy_ _." Ur replied as she remembered the wise words of a friendly grocery store cashier. "This shocked me because I've never thought of myself as unhappy."_

_She looked back at Gray with a soft smile._

_"She just doesn't understand, I have two wonderful students and got to watch them each day grow into men, what more could I want? I don't think there's anything in the world that could make me happier"_

" _Ur..."Gray gained a horrified leg upon seeing leg which was essentially an icy replacement that she'd made. "Your leg..."_

" _Oh,you noticed" Ur motioned to the replacement limb. "I lost the real one but this'll do for now." She smirked confidently. "My Maker magic came in handy."_

_Behind her, Deliora was still destroying everything in its path as it marched on. "I vowed I would free you from the darkness within you and if that means that I have to fight this demon then so be it, this is just something we have to go through in order to be happy again."_

_On Gray's shoulder, Lyon regained consciousness._

" _Ur wait." Lyon muttered._

" _I thought you were unconscious" Ur said to her elder student._

_"You're gonna defeat it right? You're talking like your not gonna make it" He stumbled forward, knocking Gray backwards_

" _let her go-"_

" _Shut up Lyon yelled silencing Gray "You can beat that thing no problem, you're the strongest wizard alive that demons no match for you."_

_"Lyon how many times have I told you, there is always someone better. "_

" _That can't be true." Lyon denied_

" _In the western countries there are lots of wizards more powerful than me" Ur stated._

" _No that's not true" Lyon denied again trying to convince himself that his teacher was lying. "It's not, because you're the strongest. If you aren't then...why have I been training with you all this time?"_

" _One day you'll surpass me and when that day comes I hope you'll move onto a loftier goal." Ur said with a smile._

_"I studied with you because I thought you were the best there was_ _." Lyon had a strange grin on his face. "If you let that thing beat you then you'll prove me wrong…Ur….don't betray me!"_

" _Lyon..."_

_The boy ran past her towards Deliora and held his arms out in a cross. "If you're not gonna give it your all then I'm gonna do it myself!"_

"Lyon t _hat stance..." Ur gasped. "Where did you learn that?"_

" _You didn't teach wasn't to teach use any powerful magic yourself, so I went to the storehouse and ready your magic books." Lyon smirked and the spell began to start up. "You hid spells like the Iced Shell from me because you were scared."_

_Gray frowned. "Iced Shell?"_

" _Lyon!" Ur yelled, running forward. "Did you even bother to read the book the whole way through? Do you know what happens to the spellcaster?"_

_Ur was buffeted as magical energy erupted around Lyon from the magic circle. Deliora turned as the massive surge of magical energy caught its attention._

" _Shit!" Ur cursed. "It noticed us."_

" _No other spell works on Deliora." Lyon muttered. "So I'll seal it away in ice for eternity!"_

_"Sorry but I'm not gonna let you do that!"_ _Ur scowled as she encased Lyon in a block of ice stopping him in his tracks._

" _But Ur why is it bad?" Gray asked_

" _When that spell is used the caster's body becomes the Iced Shell itself." Ur told Gray. "He's right though…that's the only way Deliora can be stopped...I never thought Lyon would come up with the same idea I had..." Ur crossed her hands in front of her taking the same stance that Lyon had moments before. "I won't ever let you hurt my students again!" She roared at Deliora. "This is the end of the line you monster! Iced Shell!"_

_The demon roared as blue magic circles surrounded it and ice began to slowly creep up its limbs. Gray gasped when Ur's body turned white and crystalline, cracks began to appear on it her body._

" _It's a sacrifice I have to make; my body will become the ice that will seal Deliora for all eternity." Ur smiled. "Gray, do me a favour... tell Lyon that I died. If he found out I became the ice, he'd waste his whole life trying to find a way to undo the spell, and that would make my sacrifice meaningless."_

" _Stop!" Gray sobbed._

" _I want Lyon to see the world and live a full life." Ur gave a small grin. "And Gray I want the same for you."_

" _Please stop it..." Gray begged. "I'll listen to you from now on... do anything you say..."_

" _You don't have to be sad." Ur's voice soothed him, as her body began to disappear. "I'll live on, please don't cry.I may not be with you but I will protect from Deliora. Be strong, make me proud."_

" _UR!"_

" _I've freed you from the darkness Gray, I've sealed it away forever"_

_At that moment Gray felt all of the anger and sadness inside of him disappear, and vowed at that moment to always be strong for his teacher._

_Lyon gasped and shot up as soon as he came to._

_"What the... Deliora?" He shouted, looked up at the demon's frozen form. Looking around wildly, he ran over to Gray who was huddled by one of the fallen buildings. "Gray! Did Ur cast the spell? Where is she now? Tell me."_

" _She's dead..." Gray whispered._

_"NO!" Lyon screamed, grabbing Gray's collar and shaking him. "What will I do now? She's dead and so is my dream cause of you."_

"I'm _sorry..."_

_"That's not good enough_ _it won't bring her back, you killed my dream" Lyon yelled angrily If only you hadn't challenged Deliora..." Lyon grit his teeth in anger. "This is your fault, Gray! You killed master Ur!"_

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Look this could go on forever so do yourself a favour and just give up already." Natsu demanded of Lyon.

"I'd never give you the satisfaction." Lyon replied

"Then you're asking for it." Natsu growled igniting his fist.

"Oh am I now?" Lyon asked as the temperature around him began to drop.

The two paused and watched as one of the room's frozen walls began to crumble. Natsu's eyes widened as the crack spread to the entire ice wall.

"What the?"

Suddenly the wall crumbled completely revealing Gray with a serious expression on his face.


	10. Deliora Awakens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only. ******
> 
> **[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]**

"Back off," Gray said to Natsu, "it's time Lyon and I ended this once and for all."

"No way, man!" Natsu protested. "You already lost to him once!"

"And it won't happen again," Gray replied confidently, "I'm ready this time."

"You seem awfully cocky," Lyon said.

"You were right, Lyon," Gray said, after a moment of silence "I _am_ responsible for Ur's death."

Lyon's eyes narrowed on his former rival.

"But you're no better," Gray continued, "You threatened my friends, brought harm to the villagers and now you're trying to destroy what Ur gave her life to create. It's time we faced our punishment together."

Gray widened his stance, stretching out his arms, and then crossing them at the wrists. Lyon looked shocked as he recognised the stance Gray was taking.

"That stance… not the Iced Shell!"

Natsu was shocked; he remembered that Ur had used the Iced Shell to seal Deliora away. But it was also what caused her death.

"Are you insane?" Lyon demanded, "You wouldn't dare!"

"If you want to live," Gray said, "change the villagers back to their human forms, and then leave this island and never return!" a magic circle appeared under Gray's feet and began glowing strongly. "If you'll agree to that, I'll stop; otherwise, this is the end."

"Is that so? Well, I don't believe a word of it; you're bluffing!" Lyon said with a confident smirk.

In response, a storm of ice began to spread from the magic circle.

"No, I'm not," Gray replied his tone completely serious.

"You'll die!" Lyon tried to use his own magic to block the attack, but it was blown away by the sheer power of Gray's spell.

"Don't do it!" Natsu shouted; he would have been knocked back by Gray's magic as well.

"All these years, I've lied to myself," Gray said, "I didn't want to admit that Ur died because of me, but she did, and it's time I took responsibility. So I will, here and now; I'm not afraid to die, if that what it takes!"

"Stop this now!" Lyon yelled.

"What's it going to be, Lyon?" Gray demanded, "Are we going to die, or are we going to live? It's up to you!"

"You wouldn't," Lyon said, a hint of a sneer on his face, "you're not brave enough to give your life! You're nothing but a coward!"

"Just watch me," Gray whispered.

_Natsu, Erza, all my friends in Fairy Tail, the rest is up to you,_ he thought, _I don't want to leave, but my time is up._

" **Iced Sh…"**

"SHADDAP!" Gray's spell was interrupted when Natsu's fist came down on his head.

"Natsu!" Gray scowled at the offending wizard.

"You can't just bust in here and steal the scene with a bunch of fancy talk." Natsu said angrily "Get to the back of the line pal."

"Back of what line?"

"I was here first so it's my fight."

"What?!" Gray stood up and glared at Natsu. "When I got here, the first words out of my mouth were leave him to me."

"And I said no way!" Natsu growled.

"I've got a score to settle with this guy!" Gray argued.

"How is killing yourself 'settling a score'?" Natsu asked, "If anything, dying and leaving us to clean up the mess just makes you a coward."

Gray flinched, and then slumped however before he could say anything, the room began to shake.

"Oh, what now?" asked an exasperated Natsu.

The room, as well as the rest of the temple, had been resting at an angle; however, it was now returning back to its original position. In a few moments, it was as if the damage that Natsu had done to tilt the temple had never occurred.

The dragon slayer let go of Gray and began stomping the ground in frustration.

"This is bad," Gray said, getting back up, "now the moon's gonna shine on Deliora!"

"Pardon the interruption," Zalty said, entering the room; he had slipped out during the fight between Lyon and Natsu.

"I should have known," Lyon said calmly, " _You_ did all this?"

"The moon will be out soon," Zalty replied, "so I thought I'd straighten the temple for you."

"That weirdo fixed the temple all by himself?" Gray asked with confusion.

"And after all the trouble we went through to mess it up, too," Natsu complained, then shook his fist at Zalty, "Hey, so what'd you do to fix it, huh?"

Zalty looked at Natsu in surprise, as if noticing him for the first time, then laughed maniacally.

"TELL ME HOW YOU FIXED IT, YOU JERK!" Natsu screamed.

"Well, if everything else is in order, I'll go prepare the Moon Drip ceremony," Zalty said, then ran off.

"Would you quit ignoring me, you masked freak!" Natsu shouted, and then began to chase after him.

Before Natsu left the room, he spun around and pointed at Gray. "I'll handle that masked jerk; I'll leave Lyon to you."

Gray was surprised that Natsu was suddenly trusting him to beat Lyon.

Natsu turned around, his back to Gray. "It'll look bad if you lose again."

"Yeah," Gray said determination in his tone.

"Not just for you," Natsu continued.

"I know what you mean," Gray said,

"But for all of Fairy Tail!" he and Natsu said together, Natsu then off after Zalty.

"My, my," Lyon said after they left, "Such a boisterous group."

"Let me ask you something," Gray said, "a second ago, when I was gonna freeze us both, were you counting on Natsu to stop me before I could finish?"

"No," Lyon answered, "the opposite, in fact; I never thought that anyone would be foolish enough to get near a spell like that."

"So you were just going to stand there and take the hit?" Gray asked, surprised.

"Exactly," a smug Lyon said, "Because someone would come to rescue me; you, on the other hand, would be finished for good."

"I should have known," Gray murmured to himself.

"Certainly, it would have been inconvenient," Lyon continued, "however, my allies are as devoted to my cause as I am, and as long as we're on this island, they can use Moon Drip to melt the ice whenever they saw fit."

Gray looked down. "I didn't think of that; I guess the Iced Shell is completely useless here."

_And my sacrifice would have been for nothing,_ he thought.

"Even so," Lyon said, "you _still_ want to fight? After what happened last time?"

Gray didn't reply.

"Don't fool yourself," Lyon laughed, "you could never…"

"That's enough," Gray interrupted.

"What?"

"Just forget about Deliora," Gray said softly.

"What kind of nonsense is this?" Lyon asked, genuinely confused. "Your threats don't work, so you turn to begging? Does your Guild have dentist that removes your fangs, or are you just a coward?"

"Lyon, there's something I have to tell you," Gray said.

"What is it?" Lyon asked, now annoyed.

"Ur… is still alive."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Lucy had been observing events from afar ever since she brought Gray to the temple. She found herself looking down from atop the temple down at the hole into the chamber where Deliora was kept frozen.

"Deliora, the demon of destruction who devastated the north and east." Lucy tilted her head as she kept watch over the trapped demon before smiling and looking out towards dying sunlight over the horizon. "First Lullaby now Deliora, I can't help but wonder why it is that we keep encountering your leftover trash. Are we being lead somewhere? If so for what purpose? do we mean to clash? What do you think…Zeref?"

After waiting a couple of seconds she let herself drop down into the chamber where Deliora was kept and sat upon a rocky ledge, she sensed two wizards approaching and decided to watch and see what would happen.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Far away on an island inhabited by only a single person, a young man with black hair wearing tan robes with gold trim, along with a large, flowing white toga draped around his torso awoke with a start and looked out across the ocean.

"Strange, for a moment it felt as though someone was speaking to me." He mumbled to himself before lying back down and closing his eyes "But that's impossible, I am alone here."

Safe in the reminder of this knowledge the young man drifted back into the slumber he had been in for so long.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"There you are!" Natsu yelled with his fists aflame. "I'll burn that grin off your face."

" It must have taken you a while to come up with that one. By the way, how did you find me?" Zalty asked curiously, jumping to avoid Natsu's attack.

"I followed my nose that's all" Natsu said "For some reason you totally reek of ladies perfume."

"I would love to stay and chat but I have more important things to do right now" Zalty laughed. "Like reviving Deliora."

"Just forget about that its not gonna happen ok" Natsu told him dismissively.

"Oh?" Zalty sounded curious. "And why is that prey-tell?"

" Because Gray's beating the crap out of that ice guy" Natsu smirked. "And I'm gonna send you the same way, with a million times the pain."

" We'll just have to see about" Zalty said looking up.

Natsu followed his gaze and his eyes widened in shock.

"What the hell?" He exclaimed, staring at the familiar purple light of the Moon Drip hitting the ice. "Is someone doing the ceremony up there right now?"

" Yes the effect of the Moon Drip is weakened when only one person is performing the ceremony." Zalty explained. "However we have already gathered more than enough moonlight. All that's need is a chance to apply it" His mad grin widened when the ice started to melt. "Observe"

"Oh crap! Deliora's ice is melting!" Natsu shot towards the exit. "I gotta do something about the guy on the roof."

Zalty waved his hand and the rocks under Natsu crumbled, sending him sliding back down. "Oh ho, now you run away? But I cannot allow that"

Natsu shot up in anger.

"It was a mistake to come after me, Salamander." Zalty continued.

Natsu glanced back at the dissolving ice and took another flame filled punch at Zalty.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Zalty asked "Using your fire magic at a time like this, might make the ice sealing Deliora melt faster"

Natsu attacked with a flaming kick which Zalty barely dodged.

"If it could be melted by fire magic, then you wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble!" Natsu replied "Bluff all you want but all I gotta do is stop the moon drip and then its game over."

"I must say I am surprised at your mental speed and flexibility on the field of battle." Zalty chuckled

"I don't think I'll let him succeed this easily." Lucy gave a grin as the temple began to tremble. "I do so love ruining people's day so let's go ruin the day of whoever's performing the Moon Drip shall we?"

She opened a golden portal high up near the top of the temple through the gap where the Moon Light was shining on Deliora. The ever faithful chain Enkidu dropped from it; she grabbed on and began retracting it sending up her up quickly towards the rooftop where the ritual was being performed.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

At the top of the ruins Toby grinned, while performing the ceremony.

'Almost there' he thought to himself 'just a bit more and-URK' the dogman suddenly felt a large metallic something force itself on the back of his head along with a powerful killing intent.

"Wha-" Before he could finish what he was saying or even think about who it was his face was planted several inches into the surface of the temple causing the Moon Drip to stop completely.

"Dogs bark they do not speak." Lucy chuckled dusting off her hands as the Moon Drip was stopped for good.

She looked down into the temple spying Natsu and Zalty still fighting it out, the Temple gave another quake but settled down as the Ice trapping Deliora stabilised. It was thinned out a bit but it was still far too thick for it to break free on its own. Having nothing better to do she listened in on Natsu and his opponent.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Gray frowned as he glanced at the shaking temple walls "I got a bad feeling that ain't Natsu."

" The Moon Drip ceremony is nearing completion" Lyon panted. "The ice sealing Deliora has begun to melt away."

" Ur..." Gray whispered in shock.

"There's nothing you can do. It's too late to stop me" Lyon smirked victoriously. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited for this moment Gray? Since I saw you last I've been gathering knowledge and allies who will aid me. I was fortunate enough to discover this place, an island where you can gather the light of the moon, Galuna" He sent a volley of ice birds at Gray. "It wasn't easy bringing Deliora from Brago and the Moon Drip has taken three years."

"So you've been wasting your time on this plan for three years" Gray yelled, shielding himself with ice to repel the bird missiles.

"Stupid?" Lyon screamed. "How dare you say that? You've wasted ten years in some guild peddling your life away"

"Because I put my faith in what Ur told me." Gray grunted dodging another ice bird.

Lyon's eyes to widen at the memory.

_"In the western countries, there are lots of Wizards more powerful than me."_  
  
" I made my way west and I wound up at Fairy Tail" Gray told Lyon. " And she was right. There are so many that surpassed her that I couldn't believe it. "

_"I don't think I can help you" Makarov sighed. " The Iced Shell is based on the will of its caster, and because that will is absolute a third party cannot melt the ice no matter what magic they use."_

" No way, your telling me that even with all the strong wizards you've got here you can't break the spell" Gray asked protest.

"Actually now that I think about it there may be a way" Makarov frowned in thought causing the young Gray to smile with hope "On second thought that's not a good idea. If you were to melt the ice then it would be no different than killing your master"

"I didn't know it at the time, but I bet the old man was thinking about the Moon Drip when he said that." Gray scowled. After all that Ur did for us you killed her without giving it a second thought. You make me sick"

"Say what you will I don't care." Lyon grinned. "My entre life has lead up to this moment." An icy beast formed around his hand. "Our teacher is long dead, if we want to prove that we have surpassed her then what can we do? Think Gray, there only one answer. Deliora. I will surpass Ur by defeating Deliora, what she could not!"

"That's a pretty ambitious plan, but I but I can't help but think that you've missed the point along the way" Gray yelled dodging Lyon's attacks. "Someone as blind you could never be better than Ur not in a 100 years wake up Lyon."

Suddenly Gray slashed Lyon across the middle with an instantly formed ice sword. His victory was short-lived, however, when the body turned to ice and the real Lyon emerged behind him.

"Fooled you didn't I? Ice Make: Snow Tiger!" Lyon roared, sending a huge beast charging at Gray.

Gray made a hand-stand and ice erupted from his hands in the shape of a large cage. "Ice Make: Prison!"

"Is that it?" Gray scowled at his former senior, standing on top of the cage. "You see Lyon, this is what you are. A beast in cage lashing out at a world he barely knows"

"Utter nonsense" Lyon yelled. "I'll just smash your molding magic-"

He cut himself off when the tiger threw itself at the cage bars repeatedly but failed to free itself

"Single-handed spell casting is too unbalanced." Gray announced, landing in front of the cage. "Your creations will let you down when you down need them the most."

Lyon's jaw dropped when Gray formed an ice rocket launcher on his shoulder. "Ice Cannon!"

" That's what Ur taught us." Gray added as Lyon, thoroughly beaten collapsed to the ground.  
[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Zalty's jaw dropped as he watched the Moon Drip's light vanish stopping the magic ritual in its tracks.

"No! Damn it!" he yelled in frustration.

"Hahaha sorry pal looks like that demon won't be getting out today" Natsu cackled smugly.

"This is not over!" Zalty yelled with a fury that surprised Natsu. "You know I didn't want to have to expose myself so early, but I have no choice now."

Zalty held out his hand and in it appeared a lightning bolt shaped dagger with a kaleidoscope of colours on the blade that seemed to flow across it.

"It'll take more than a puny dagger to beat me." Natsu said smugly."

"It's not for you, you idiot. This dagger is called Rule Breaker and it can break any magic spell no matter how powerful." Zalty explained gleefully as he leapt towards the ice holding Deliora.

"Wait if you had something like that all along then why not just use to start with instead of going through all this Moon Drip crap?" Natsu demanded.

"Simple because certain might realise my identity if I used this dagger, but now I have no choice." Zalty then stuck the dagger into the Iced Shell.

A jolt of pain went through Gray and he clutched his wound and used ice make magic to seal it up.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Man I should've sealed this up earlier" he groaned

His eyes shot wide in shock as a deafening roar erupted from somewhere beneath him. "What the..."

" That sound" Gray said clenching his fist as flashbacks of Urs last moments and Deliora's final rampage sped past his minds eye "I could never forget that sound."

"Deliora" Lyon said now conscious but still lying on the ground, having been awoken by Deliora's roar.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"It's so loud!" Natsu yelled, his voice lost in the almighty roar as Deliora told the world of its return.

"Yes its free" Zalty proclaimed as the upper half of Deliora's body was freed from the Iced Shell followed by the lower half of his body.

"They did it, they actually revived it" Gray thought to himself "There's only one thing I can do now. Iced Shell."

Deliora roared as it was freed of the Iced Shell, the first thing it did was smash its way out of the cave to escape confinement. It then made its way outside and roared again as it found fresh air, as it did so Zalty quickly held out his hand in the demons direction and chanted something quickly under his breath. Deliora was enveloped in a purple glow for a few seconds before it continued stomping its way to freedom.

"Oh crap it's free and what did you just do to that demon exactly?" Natsu yelled, turning towards Zalty.

"I just gave it a little boost is all, you see my knowledge of magic is quite extensive and Deliora needed a little push which I gave it."

"I've wasted enough time. Here I come!" Natsu leapt at Zalty only to be knocked back when a round hard object smashed into his face.

"Ready when you are, go ahead and do your worst little Salamander" Zalty grinned as his crystal orb flew around him.

"Fine with me!" Natsu shouted, smashing the orb to pieces with his fist. Zalty made a simple gesture and the ball reformed in mid-air, much to Natsu's surprise.

Natsu gasped for breath at the orb hit his stomach, lifting him with the force of the blow. "But I broke it right?"

"I have the ability to control an object's 'time'." Zalty explained. "Meaning, I can take the crystal back in 'time' to before it was broken."

"Time?" Natsu asked. "What kind of magic gives you that power?"

"I practice one of the Lost Magic's, the Arc of Time, It's extremely rare and quite powerful" Zalty replied. "Would you like to see what happens when I throw this crystal ball into the future, hmm?"

Natsu blinked as the orb sped past him at incredible speeds, before he could think he was being bombarded by the crystal simultaneously from multiple directions. He roared in anger and smashed the ball with a fiery punch.

"Your fire won't help you" Zalty taunted, reforming it instantly and smashed Natsu in the back of the head with the ball.

Natsu swung his fist at the oncoming attack, only for the ball to stop and hang in front of him. "It stopped in mid air"

"Yes I also have the ability to freeze an object in time." Zalty clarified.

"That's a nice trick" Natsu said "But I'd be more impressed if you could use it on people."

" An astute observation" Zalty praised him. "Technically it does not work on any living being. That is why I could not use it on the Iced Shell, which is actually Ur."

"I'm gonna be blunt, I don't get you guys" Natsu said "You've revived Deliora so that Lyon can kill it. That may be good for him and all, but what do you all get out of it?"

"I can't speak for all." Zalty said with a shrug "I've just joined the group recently."

" Ok then speak for yourself" Natsu scowled. "What is it you're really after?"

" It seems that you have managed to see through me completely." Zalty laughed. "The Cold Emperor Lyon is an arrogant twit. He doesn't stand a chance against Deliora. That's where I come in."

" If he can't beat we're in major trouble unless you're going to defeat it yourself."

Deliora let loose another roar which shook the island.

"Don't be ridiculous" Zalty waved his hand, indicating the direction of the monster which had roared. "I want to control the demon. You see there are spells that give the caster power over immortal monsters like Deliora. With a single spell I'd become the most powerful man in the world because I'd have a demon at my beck and call"

"Talk about a lame answer. I'm sorry I even asked" Natsu scoffed. "That's what you're after? You think just having some monster's going to make you tough? No way"

"You just don't understand." Zalty commented. "But there are times when you need power."

"Well I've already got plenty of power on my side" Natsu shot back. "Because all of my friends at Fairy Tail have got my back"

"Such vanity will be your ruin." Zalty raised a hand towards the ceiling. "Accelerate your time and crumble!".

"I've had enough!" Natsu growled. "Each and every one of you has put this island through hell for stupid, selfish reasons!" He fired several fireballs towards Zalty.

"Let's see if those violent flames can be captured by my Arc of Time, shall we?"

"I don't care what your magic is called!" Natsu charged forward and creating a smokescreen with a flaming arm.

"What the-?" Zalty exclaimed, looking forward. "I can't sense him there!"

" I can manipulate time as well!" Natsu screamed, appearing above and slightly behind Zalty. "The future, to be exact! In a moment, I'll send you flying! Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Zalty was hit by the attack in the face and would have been sent flying but he managed to correct himself and land on his feet. He spat out some blood and began backing away. Suddenly he leapt up into the air began flying away; his clothes' mask and appearance dissolved revealing a female figure wearing a hooded bluish-purple robe that concealed her face.

"I knew you were woman." Natsu smirked victoriously.

"Very clever dimwit, but if you'll excuse me I have a demon to control. Tata." With that the woman calling herself Zalty flew off in pursuit of Deliora.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Lucy who watching the battle through the hole in the ceiling sat cross legged, she pulled out the prototype of the dagger that had been used to free Deliora and pondered staring at it as she searched her memory.

"Rule Breaker…..hmmmm…..now where have I seen that before?" Lucy mumbled as she stared at the dagger.

She looked down out of the corner of her eye as a blue robed figure landed on Deliora's head and began using magic to control the demon which was basically a corpse anyway. The feeling that she was forgetting something grew stronger.

Lucy saw Erza leap up meaning to stop the figure only be block by a purple shield and repulsed. A memory of a cloaked figure blocked a hail of swords came to her minds eye and Lucy opened her eyes only to narrow them at the figure as she returned the dagger to the Gate of Babylon.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Meanwhile Ultear looked down at Erza Scarlet form atop Deliora's head, her face still concealed by her robes. She had to be careful not to kill Erza; she was still needed for Jellal to 'sacrifice' after all, still that didn't mean she couldn't give her thrashing especially after that pink haired dimwit hurt her face.

"Now Deliora crush her." She commanded the demon which reared its fist to do as ordered.

Erza raised her sword ready to try and block the attack as she hadn't the strength to dodge. However everyone, the demon included paused a loud bellow of rage echoed throughout the island.

"CASTER! YOU FILTHY LITTLE WITCH YOU DARE TO SHOW YOUR FACE AROUND ME!" With that bellow Deliora let out a cry of pain and struggled to keep balance as the sound of flesh being pierced kept echoing.

"W-what is happening and who dares to call me a witch?" Ultear looked back behind her and saw multiple golden portals peppering Deliora's back with hundreds of weapons. She looked up and barely jumped off Deliora's head in time as a golden battle axe split head open like a watermelon. The one responsible wore had piercing crimson eye's and wore golden armour that she instantly recognised.

"Y-you your that servant from back then." Ultear stammered recognising the girl a female variation of the Servant who had slain her when she had tried to control Saber in the Grail War a lifetime ago.

"I WILL KILL YOU!" Lucy yelled as she leapt of the falling Deliora and at Ultear with the intent of chopping her to pieces.

"T-this isn't over, don't think you've won." Ultear quickly clapped her hands and teleported away, much to Lucy's frustration.

She let out a roar of anger as she landed and sent the axe back to her treasury.

"I'll get that witch next time." Lucy growled ignoring the dead demon behind her.

"Lucy you did it." Natsu cheered as she and Gray arrived with a limping Lyon.

"Y-you killed it." Gray said in disbelief at Deliora's body.

"She slew Deliora like it was nothing." Lyon fell to his knees.

"Hmmm what are you babbling about back there, I didn't kill this thing." Lucy denied shaking her head.

"But you put the axe into its head, and stopped it, what do you mean you didn't kill it?" Erza asked.

"It seems I must explain everything." Lucy sighed letting an annoyed breath. "Pay attention, by the time Deliora was freed from the Iced Shell it was already dead. You see for ten years Ur has been gradually depleted thee demons life force, that witch merely reanimated a corpse."

"So that roar we heard….was nothing more than its last dying breaths." Lyon said tearfully pounding the ground with his fist. "My dream is dead, there's no hope now, I will never surpass Ur."

"Man your teacher was pretty awesome." Natsu said to Gray who was caught up in a memory.

" _I've freed you from the darkness Gray, I've sealed it away forever" Ur's said to him in his mind._

"You've saved my life again" Gray said through tears. "Thank you Ur."

"Look, there." Lucy pointed to the ruins out of which flowed a large stream of water. "The ice which was once Ur is now flowing out to the open sea."

"Oh yeah!" Natsu cheered as they exited the temple, "We totally finished an S-Class quest all by ourselves!"

Natsu's celebrations were shattered by Erza's glare.

"Isn't there something you're forgetting about?" Erza demanded, "You came to this island to help the villagers; the request was for you to return them to their original forms. You still haven't completed your S-class quest still isn't completed."

"Well, we better go and change them back." Natsu exclaimed happily.

"Aye sir!" Happy agreed as both exchanged high-fives.

"Yeah, but we don't know how." Gray said. Then, his face lit up as he got an idea. He turned to Lyon, who was leaning against a boulder behind him. He had taken off his body armour, leaving him in a blue jacket, black pants, and steel boots. "Lyon, do you know?"

"To be quite honest, I don't have a clue." Lyon answered impassively.

Natsu and Happy looked at him incredulously.

"You don't know?" asked Natsu.

"What?" Happy added in disbelief.

"When we first arrived here three years ago," Lyon explained, "we were aware that there was a village somewhere on this island. But we had absolutely no reason to communicate with the villagers, so we left them alone. They never came to the temple to see what we were up to."

"In three years, you've never once met?" Erza said disbelievingly.

" The light from the Moon Drip is so bright you can see it practically from any point on the island. It is strange that they saw it every night and never went to investigate." Lucy noted.

"The spell didn't transform the villagers." Lyon continued. "The Moon Drip has no effect on the human body."

"What?" Gray inquired dumbfounded.

"Yeah right," Natsu accused, "you're just saying that so you and your lackeys will be off the hook."

"Just think about it." The former 'Cold Emperor' said. "I've been exposed to it longer than they have and my appearance hasn't changed one bit."

"I wouldn't trust them." Lyon warned, crossing his arms over his chest. "Those villagers are hiding something, but I'm sure you Guild wizards can handle it."

"We're not done with you." Natsu stated. "You tried to destroy the entire village and…"

The Dragon Slayer's ranting was stopped when Erza squished his cheeks together.

"That's quite enough, Natsu." Erza ordered.

Erza then began retelling the explanation she had gotten out of one of the followers for why they agreed to help Lyon. As it turned out Lyon's followers were people that had lost families, friends, and everything they had to Deliora. Lyon found them and persuaded them that if they helped him free it, he would kill it, and get revenge for all of them.

"They were only doing what they believed to be right. So there's no need to criticize them for it." Erza explained, she then let go of Natsu's face. "Now, let's go."

"But what are we going to do to lift the curse?" The pink haired wizard inquired.

"I have no idea." Erza replied.

"Idiots…" Lucy muttered "It seems I must do everything myself."

Erza, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy walked away toward the storage area, leaving only Gray and Lyon behind who simply glared at him. "What do you want?"

"I know you don't want to hear it, but you really should join a Guild. You'll make new friends, meet new rivals, and maybe even find a new dream to live for."

"Whatever," Lyon grumbled, "just get out of here!" His expression softened a bit, but he then turned away with an angry scowl on his face.

Gray smiled slightly as he turned and walked away.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

When they returned to the village Lucy had ordered everyone to gather at the village centre.

"Alright Lucy we're all here so now what?" Gray asked.

"Simple, I'm going to put an end to this ridiculous quest." Lucy sighed massaging her temple's "Being around all this stupidity is giving me a headache."

"So how are you gonna turn them back to normal?" Natsu questioned.

"Just shut up and watch." Another golden ripple appeared and spear emerged from it aimed at the sky.

The spear kept travelling upwards until it appeared to hit the moon which began to crack. The cracks began to spread until not just the moon, but the whole sky seemed to shatter leaving behind a normal coloured moon.

"What the heck is going on here?"

"Erza explain now." Lucy commanded "I've had enough of this nonsense."

"As a result of the Moon Drip spell," Erza explained with a sigh. "A membrane was covering the island."

"What?"

"The Moon Drip released evil energy in the form of a gas." The swordswoman continued "That gas crystalized and formed an invisible shell in the sky that covered the island. That's why the moon looked purple here."

Suddenly a brilliant light illuminated under the feet of the villagers.

"Now that the shell is broken," Erza explained, "everything will go back to the way it was three years ago."

Then, the light vanished; however, nothing changed. The villagers were still in their demonic forms.

"What happened? They're not transforming." Gray asked confused.

"Oh no," Happy muttered worriedly.

"That's because these are their true forms." Erza replied as she walked toward them. "The Moon Drip never had any effect on their appearance. However, it seems to have altered their memories."

"Wait what do you mean?" Gray inquired.

"They think they're humans who have been transformed into demons, but it's the other way around you dolt." Lucy explained still nursing her headache.

Happy screamed in shock while Gray and Natsu's jaws dropped.

"The villagers have always been demons." Titania continued.

"Hey is that true?!" Gray demanded, getting in the face of a villager.

"Well…maybe," the villager stuttered, "my memory's still a little hazy. We all looked pretty human when y'all met us, didn't we?"

"Yes," Erza enlightened, "because you all possess the ability to take on human forms. Your false memories led you all to believe that your temporary states were actually your true forms. In reality, you were actually victims to the Moon Drip's side-effects."

"Lyon and the others weren't affected because they're human." Lucy explained "Demons were the only ones susceptible to the memory loss. The moon's light was sacred, thus creatures of darkness couldn't go anywhere near it or the temple which was sacred ground."

The group turned to the source and was stunned by who they saw. Happy shrieked girlishly. Gray, Natsu, felt their jaws drop again from the sight of the purple-skinned demon that had appeared out of nowhere.

"It's the guy from the boat!" Gray exclaimed.

"Bobo." Moka felt his eyes tear up and his lips quiver from the sight of his son that he had presumed dead.

"Huh," a confused villager said, "but we thought you were dead!"

"Getting stabbed in the chest hurt pretty bad, but you got to do more than that to kill a demon." Bobo chuckled.

"But…on the boat…you just vanished into thin air." Gray mentioned, still flabbergasted from this new development.

All of a sudden, a pair of black, bat-like wings folded out from behind Bobo's shirt as he leaped into the air, hovering above them with his arms crossed.

"I sure hope you kids can forgive me for not telling you sooner." Bobo said.

"Whoa," Gray muttered, "he can fly?"

"I was the only one who didn't have any memory loss." Bobo explained. "I had to leave because everyone went nuts! I knew I was a demon, but everyone else thought that they were cursed humans."

Finally, Moka couldn't take it anymore. "B-Bobo," he said. Then, a pair of wings folded out from behind his shirt as he soared into the air and wrapped his son up in a tight hug, tears rolling down his face.

"I'm so glad you snapped out of it, Pops!" Bobo hugged his father back.

The villagers all looked at each other and smiled widely, their memories finally returning. Similar bat-like wings appeared from their backs as they flew into the sky around Bobo and Moka, cheering in celebration of the returned Bobo.

The Fairy Tail wizards looked up, happy smiles plastered across their faces.

"Yep, they're definitely demons." Erza commented.

"I don't know. When you look at their faces," Natsu said as he looked up at Moka crying in happiness at his son's return, "well…they kinda look like angels to me."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later, the village was throwing a big feast to rejoice in everyone regaining their former identities as demons. The Fairy Tail wizards were guests of honour for helping them. Lucy, Erza, and Happy were at the large table along with the other villagers, eating what was surprisingly awesome food. Natsu was to the side devouring the fire on torches.

Gray was sitting close to a hut, a clique of villager girls swooning around him with hearts in their eyes. The ice wizard, meanwhile, sat there with flushed cheeks and a sheepish grin on his face. They eventually pulled Gray to his feet and were tugging him to what appeared to be a dance area.

"Well…I have to admit I was wrong about humans." Moka said. "All of these years we have chosen to hide from the outside world, afraid that they would judge us by our appearance."

"You know the curse," Bobo added, "that was actually a rumour we started so nobody would come to the island and bother us."

"But thanks to you, we have changed our minds. You have restored our faith in humans and we are not afraid. We are ready to go out and make friends with people from other lands."

"That's good." Erza smiled. "Friendship is a beautiful thing. It's an emotional bond that transcends one's physical appearance."

Bobo chuckled in agreement while the others simply smiled. Lucy snorted derisively and turned her head away pretending not to care about Erza's words, unseen to anyone however a slight smile was on her lips.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Standing above a cliff that overlooked the village were Sherry, Yuka, and Toby. The trio of wizards were peering down at the celebrating village. They could hear the music, cheering, and festive activities going on.

"Are you really gonna go down there?" Toby asked turning to Yuka.

"I have no choice." Yuka replied. "It wouldn't be right to leave things the way they are now. Toby, stay here with Cold Emperor Lyon."

"We have to do this. It's all in the name of love." Sherry said determinedly.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The villagers continued their celebration; however, their party came to a halt when two people strolled into the village. The cheering and talking instantly stopped, some even gasped, when they saw who the two figures were Sherry and Yuka.

The girls huddled around a shirtless Gray were obviously scared. "What should we do?" one whispered.

"I'll take care of this." Gray said standing up.

"How can I help you?" Erza asked standing up to confront them.

"You Fairy Tailers are tough." Yuka commented, a grin on his face. "The Cold Emperor was so banged up he couldn't make it down here."

"That's why we've come to pay you a visit in his place." Sherry added coldly, before pointing at Lucy "Thanks to you and that potion I'll be having nightmares forever."

"That was the general idea, next time if you cross me I'll take your life." Lucy replied shooting her a glare which caused her to flinch.

"Anyway" Yuka interrupted, "that doesn't matter to us."

"We wanted to settle things with you ourselves." Sherry said shaking herself out of her fright.

Natsu stepped forward, an eager grin plastered across his face. "Alright," he let up his right fist with fire. "Show me what you got!"

"Natsu wait!" Bobo called. "As much as we appreciate it, we can't keep letting you fight our battles. We'll take care of this."

"Yeah," a villager behind Chief Moka and Bob cried. "Let us handle these clowns."

"Normally I'd agree with you, gentlemen." Erza said. "But I believe it's best if I handle this one."

The scarlet haired wizard sauntered toward Sherry and Yuka stopping a fair distance in front of them.

"She seems like a formidable opponent." Yuka sneered.

Erza said nothing; she only stared hard at the at Lyons minions.

"That pink haired mongrel" Lucy said. "She can control inanimate objects."

"And don't even bother using your magic on, Mega-Brows." Natsu added.

"I see," Erza replied calmly. "In that case," the redhead broke into a sprint straight toward the duo. "I'll just have to do this the old-fashioned way!"

Erza ran up and delivered a powerful kick to a surprised Sherry, sending her flying back. She quickly spun and slammed her left elbow with Yuka's face, forcing him to the ground with a thud. With painful grunts, the duo slowly got back to their feet.

"You're truly an amazing warrior." Sherry complimented as she steadily stood up.

As Yuka stood up, he wiped a trickle of blood off his mouth.

"No kidding. We're no match for you." He added.

Everyone eyed the duo suspiciously, shocked that they weren't fighting back. Surprisingly, the two wizards looked to the ground with albeit shameful expressions.

"I doubt this is going to make up for all the bad things we did…but we wanted to apologize in person." Yuka confessed sincerely.

"Ooooh…so you came here to settle things in a good way." Happy said.

"The Cold Emperor told us everything." Sherry said. "Thanks to you we can finally let go of the pain that Deliora caused us so many years ago."

"You mean…" Gray paused, "you were victims of Deliora too?"

"When we were children a Deliora ravaged our village. We watched it murder all our friends and family." Yuka explained.

"The Cold Emperor had a plan to kill the demon once for all." Sherry continued. "That's why we followed him."

"You see," Yuka said, "we wanted revenge. And we were so focused on getting it, we didn't realize we were hurting innocent people."

"We were so blinded by our hatred that we didn't act any better than the demon itself. So from now on, we'll treat other people with respect…and love." Sherry said.

"Alright then!" Natsu exclaimed happily. The pink haired wizard appeared behind the duo, laying a hand on Sherry and Yuka's shoulders and bringing them in closer. "You guys should stick around and join in on the feast, eh?"

"But…we were enemies a second ago." Yuka mentioned, startled by this sudden change of attitude.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea because I'm trying to watch my figure and…"

Sherry's rant was cut short as Natsu squeezed them together closer. "Enough of the excuses, live a little will yah?!"

Seconds later, Natsu dragged them until they were seated at a table. They held their drinks in fear, the demons around them all staring at the duo.

"Alright! Now we're ready to party!" Natsu shouted.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Outside the village not too far away, perched in a tree was Ultear floating beside her was a bluish-purple orb.

Ultear grinned; she had witnessed everything that had taken place in the village. Without looking at the orb, the man asked, "Were you able to see all that, sir?"

" _Yes. It's quite an interesting development."_ a smooth male voice came from the orb. " _Good thing they didn't see your face, though the girl in gold looked like she held a grudge._ "

"We crossed paths once, I'll watch out for her in the future."

" _Hmm…you better leave before they find you. Those Fairy Tail wizard especially that girl in golds, could pose quite a threat if they get in our way."_

"That is true." She replied. "More true than you think."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Back at the guild hall Levy was hard at work trying to decipher the book Lucy had given to her. It was one of the most challenging translations she had ever attempted, this language was found nowhere in the world. There were a few languages that were similar but she couldn't tell if they were close enough for a partial translation or not so she had to be careful, each of the entries had an image of the Hero in question in at the begging of it, so she wouldn't have to worry about confusing one hero with another at least.

"Man this is hard; I've never seen a language like this before." She sighed wiping some sweat from her brow in exertion.

"Hello Levy are you feeling ok?" Mirajane asked the bookworm walking over to her.

"Yeah thanks Mira this translation is really hard. I have to do it all from scratch." Levy said giving the waitress a smile.

"Well if need anything don't-Oh My!" Mira exclaimed covering her eyes.

Levy looked down and the saw that the tome was giving off a brilliant light forcing her to cover eye's as well. After a few moments the glow died down materialised as a few blank pages.

On the first blank page appeared a woman of average height with a slim, curvaceous figure. She had short dark purple hair that was kept at chin length. Her clothing consisted of a tan jacket with a black collar, jeans and a red tank top. Above the image appeared the name ' **Ur** ' and below the image a words began writing themselves onto the blank pages, Levy could only watch as a whole life story wrote itself out in front of her, to her shock it was in plain English perfectly legible to her. After several minutes the glowing died away and the story was complete.

"Incredible." Mira breathed.

"Amazing, this entry just wrote itself and I can understand it what does that mean? And why is it in a language I understand?" Levy questioned staring in awe at the tome.


	11. Phantom Lord Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.**
> 
> **AN: Before I forget shout out to Warmachine375 for helping me out and suggesting the personality shift and balance for Lucy. If you haven't read his story Fairy's Sin you should its an awesome read. ******
> 
> **[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]**

"Was that an awesome job or what?" Natsu laughed as he and the rest of the team walked through the streets of Magnolia heading back to the guild.

"Well, the client sure seemed to think so." Happy replied.

"Face it; you guys are just lucky that I decided to come along." Gray scoffed.

"We're lucky that you begged to come with us?" Natsu countered. "How do yah figure?"

"Because you're as helpful as one of Erza's suitcases!" Gray responded.

"You better watch your mouth or I'm gonna pack you like a suitcase, pal!" Natsu growled getting in Grays face.

"That doesn't make any sense." Gray retorted pushing his face against Natsu.

"Enough boys!" Erza demanded getting between the two and easily forcing them apart. "Now please get dressed."

"For crying out loud how does this keep happening?!" Gray's expression fell into shock when he saw that he stripped down to his boxers again.

"Piece of advice, Gray never get in a fight in your underwear." Happy advised

"Hey, there's something I want to know…" Lucy intervened.

"What's up?" Natsu asked.

"This job is a solo mission. So, why did you all come along?" She asked holding the request, which showed a five hundred jewel reward.

"Oh come on, isn't it obvious?" the Dragon Slayer asked.

"No not really." Lucy replied.

"We're Fairy Tail's strongest team, so we have to stick together." Natsu answered giving her a toothy grin and a thumbs up.

"Aye sir," Happy agreed.

"And don't you forget it." Gray added.

Erza only nodded in agreement.

"No job is too tough." Natsu stated with confidence. "Not for me, Happy, Erza, and even droopy drawers here."

"Don't call me that." Gray grumbled.

"We are quite a capable bunch." Erza admitted happily.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"Hey Lucy" Gray spoke up grabbing her attention.

"Yes?"

"There's something I don't understand."

"What?"

"Well you've been acting differently lately." Gray asked "No offence but you've been acting well….nice for a change. I mean, when we got injured you were concerned, usually you wouldn't care at all and you used your Celestial Spirits more than that Gate of yours."

It was true, Lucy was acting like a different person, her tone was softer, her personality was kinder and her disposition was sunnier than it had ever been since they had met her. She had even made a single arrogant declaration once since the day had started, which while certainly less grating the others found odd.

"Hmmmm….." Lucy let out a thoughtful sound, everyone leaned in to hear her answer. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She said cheerfully causing everyone to face plant "I'm always this way."

"I don't think I'll ever understand you." Gray mumbled picking himself up.

"You shouldn't worry yourself so much Gray you'll get wrinkles and look like an old man really quick." Lucy teased causing Natsu to laugh and Gray to wave his fist threateningly at the dragon slayer.

As the team strolled down the street, passing Magnolia citizens stared at them and whispered to one another. They looked at them with what appeared to be sympathy.

"What are they all staring at?" Lucy asked looking at the crowd.

"It's not the good kind of staring." Happy commented.

"It feels like pity" Erza stated.

She abruptly stopped and looked at something.

The rest of the group followed her gaze and were dumbstruck. From the distance, the Guild Hall looked very peculiar. They couldn't see much, but from here there appeared to be large metal columns sticking out in random spots all over the building.

"What? Why does the Guild look so…bizarre?" Erza wondered.

The Team continued down the path that led to the Guild Hall. When they finally reached their destination, they were dumbstruck. Several giant metal pillars were protruding out guild hall; one was even sticking out through the Fairy Tail sign above the front entrance.

"No way," Gray muttered.

"What's happened to it?" Erza asked.

Lucy raised her eyebrow at the guild hall, quite surprised that someone would attack Fairy Tail. A dark guild would have destroyed it and likely part of the town instead of merely vandalising the place so it was unlikely to be one of them, so that only left either a legal guild or a very cocky wizard wanting to pick a fight with an entire guild.

A moment passed as the group stood stationary, gazing in a mixture of surprise, confusion, and in Natsu's case, anger.

"Our Guild," Natsu snarled, clenching his fists. "Someone did this to our Guild."

"But who would do such a thing?" Titania wondered.

"It was Phantom Lord." a female voice answered.

The team, minus Natsu, turned around to see Mirajane standing behind them, ready to break into tears.

"Are you serious?" Gray said calmly.

"You mean Phantom did this?" Natsu growled as he turned to look at Mirajane with pure fury in eyes.

"We couldn't do anything to stop them. They got us good." Mirajane sobbed.

"Phantom Lord…...that name sounds familiar for some reason" Lucy said aloud stroking her chin thoughtfully.

"Phantom Lord, are a powerful rival Guild." Gray explained to Lucy "We've never been on the best terms with those jerks…as you can see."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The group proceeded into the building and headed down a flight of stairs that led to the basement. The basement was usually used for storage but since there were iron pillars everywhere, it was the only place in the Guild Hall unaffected by the devastation.

The rest of the Guild was sitting at makeshift tables, either eating, drinking, or brooding. Anyone could tell that their morale was very low.

"Yo! What's up kids?" Makarov slurred, holding obviously drunk if the mug of beer was any indication.

"Hello" Lucy greeted brightly ignoring Makarovs drunken state.

"Sorry we weren't here sooner." Erza added, skipping greetings.

"Why the heck are you all just sitting around down here?!" Natsu demanded angrily.

Natsu was ignored as the old wizard shifted his gaze to Lucy. "How did it go, Lucy? Did yah finish the job like a good girl?"

"Yes, I think it went pretty well." Lucy replied still feeling cheerful.

"Master," Erza said firmly, "do you not understand the gravity of the situation?"

"The Guild Hall has been completely destroyed!" Natsu shouted.

"There's no need to get yourselves worked up." Makarov responded as he took a big gulp of beer. "It's not like it's the end of the world or anything."

"What?" Gray asked stunned at the master's reply.

"It just goes to show you how cowardly those dunderheads in the Phantom Lord Guild really are." Makarov continued "They struck when no one was here, is that anything worth bragging about?"

"Nobody was here?" Erza queried.

"It was after everyone had already left for the night." Mirajane explained quietly.

"I suppose we can be thankful for that." Erza sighed in relief. "At least no one in our guild was hurt in the attack."

"We shouldn't trouble ourselves with people who don't even have the guts to face us head on." Makarov asserted. "Forget about those fools."

Suddenly, Natsu slammed his fist into a wooden crate, putting a large hole in it sending wood chips flying.

"Ain't gonna happen, gramps!" the pink haired wizard shouted angrily. "We can't just let them trash our place and get away with it!"

"We're not talking about this any longer." Makarov replied calmly. "We'll handle job requests down here until the upstairs is repaired."

"We shouldn't be worrying about jobs right no-"

"NATSU!" Makarov yelled cutting off the Dragon Slayer. "That's enough out of you!"

"Be warned, copping a feel will cost you." Lucy stated her cheerfulness not dropping for moment, an arm and the hand attached to it to freeze just short of her rear and retract back to a sheepishly chuckling Makarov.

"Hands to yourself, master!" Mirajane admonished puffing her cheeks in irritation.

The master of Fairy Tail then jumped off the crate he was sitting on and ran across the room.

"Where are you going old man?" Natsu demanded still infuriated.

"Oh, keep your dress on." Makarov retorted. "I gotta take a leak."

"I don't understand why he's being like this." Natsu said as his ire dimmed looking at the floor.

"Listen, this is just as hard on him as it is for you. " Mirajane said her tone becoming subdued again. "He's mad, but conflict between the Guilds is strictly forbidden by the council."

"But that's not fair!" yelled Natsu. "Those Phantom creeps started it!"

"I know, but that doesn't matter." The white haired girl responded.

"If the master's decision is to not retaliate, then we must respect it." Erza said with a hint of reluctance in her voice.

"Relax Natsu." Lucy said putting her arms behind her head. "In the eyes of the law what happened to our guild is basically vandalism, at best we can file a complaint with the Magic Council and they'll be fined for the repairs and that will be the end of the matter."

"But!"

"Even if we went and attacked Phantom Lord right now it will only end badly." Lucy stated shaking her head.

"But we could easily stomp those assholes!" Natsu protested.

"Defeating them isn't the problem." Lucy replied gently "The problem is who throws the first punch."

"What are you talking about?" Natsu asked confused.

"The guild which engages in violence first will be the one who looks the worst in the eyes of the Magic Council" Lucy said sighing "So if we were throw the first punch and start a war over petty vandalism even when we win, the Magic Council would disband Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord would be left alone because they would the victims of being attacked just for vandalising something which can be fixed."

"So what, we're gonna do nothing?!"

"For now yes." Lucy replied calmly as she examined the request board looking over the job postings "If Phantom Lord really wants a war, then they'll get impatient from our lack of retaliation and do something stupid, like attack someone from the guild. If and only If that happens can we strike back and claim self-defence."

"So we have to wait? I hate waiting." Natsu complained.

"But we have no choice, unless you want Fairy Tail to be disbanded." Lucy stated.

"She's right Natsu." Makarov said as he returned and hopped back up onto his crate. "It's better for the guild in the long run if Phantom Lord are the ones who start it and that's only I they really are looking for a fight. So just let it go for now."

While Natsu grumbled angrily Lucy tore job off the board and showed it to Makarov to get it signed off.

"Huh, a request to stop some dark guild raids on a village." Makarov read off the request Lucy was showing him. "This is the one you want?"

"Yes, this time I'll be going by myself." Lucy declared "I can handle it."

"Alright." Makarov approved the job and handed the poster back to her "Here ya go."

"Thank you." Lucy replied pocketing the poster.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"What a mess." Lucy sighed as she walking along the canal's edge with Plue who she'd summoned for company. "Phantom Lord, what do they hope to gain from this? I bet this rivalry is born from petty jealousy. "

Plue wobbled along happily, humming to himself.

Eventually Lucy made it back to her manor and entered, immediately heading for her room. When she entered she gasped in surprise at what she saw.

"Your bedrooom is very nice." Erza complimented sitting at a table with a cup of tea.

"What are you all doing in my here?" Lucy asked curiously. At another time she might have been flustered or angry but right now she was feeling pretty cheerful despite everything going on.

"Since the guild's been attacked we can assume Phantom Lord members are in town," Erza said matter-of-factly, sipping some tea.

"They've probably found out where everyone in Fairy Tail lives by now," Gray added. "Mira, said it'd be safer if we held up together. You know, strength in numbers."

"Well that makes sense I guess." Lucy relented.

"That's why everyone in Fairy Tail is having a slumber party tonight!" Happy said changing the subject from what he was about to say.

"You are an attractive teenage girl after all. I wasn't entirely comfortable with you just being alone here with Natsu and Gray." Erza said with a smile. "I felt I could only relax if I stayed here as well."

"It's not time to relax," Natsu grumbled with a huff as he sprawled himself out on the floor.

"So it was already decided that you're all going to stay with me?" Lucy sighed not really wanting to get angry.

"Woah, you sure have a lot of dirty clothes," Happy said, rummaging through her things.

"What're you doing?! Get outta my stuff cat!"

"Hey Plue, you find something to eat? Don't go hogging it all!" Natsu said, scrambling over to the Celestial Spirit who was eating a lollipop that it had found.

"Look Erza I found something you might like," Happy said as he pulled out a finely decorated long wooden box that the cat had partly opened.

Lucy watched Erza go over to Happy and fully open the box, only to gasp loudly and back away as she saw what it contained within.

"Whats the matter Erza?" Natsu asked he crawled over too look.

Within the box he saw a single long-sword hilt. The hilt and guard of the sword was decorated with a deep blue and golden pattern, the rough edge of the blade made it appear as if it had been pulled from a stone.

"It's just a sword, what's wrong?" Natsu asked confused.

"Don't you like it?" Happy inquired.

Erza didn't answer and simply slammed the box shut and shoved it back underneath the bed where Happy had found it. Her face was shadowed by her hair and she remained silent, not saying anything.

"Hey Lucy what's with that sword?" Natsu asked "Why is it making Erza act like this?"

"That sword is called Caliburn, the Golden Sword of Assured Victory." Lucy replied "It is also called the Sword of Selection or the Sword of Appointment. It is meant to choose kings as it chose King Arthur to rule Britain. In the legends King Arthur broke the rules of chivalry and so the sword shattered forcing the King get a replacement which was Excalibur. In another life I met king Arthur and decided she would make an excellent bride, I knew she would return to me one day so I went to her country and tracked down the pieces and meticulously re-forged the sword. I stored it in my Gate of Babylon and intended to give it to her as wedding present."

"So what happened?" Natsu asked wanting to hear more forgetting about Erza for the moment.

"She rejected me, but I have not given up." Lucy said clenching her fist with determination "I'll find her and try again."

"Wait you said she? But isn't Arthur and guy's name?" Gray asked.

"Her real name was Arturia but she hid her gender and pretended to be a man so the fools of her country would accept her as a king." Lucy answered with a sigh "They were still of the puny mind-set that only men can be kings."

"Wait, didn't you say Arturia was a she?" Gray asked "And aren't you a girl too?"

"Why is there a problem?" Lucy asked giving Gray a dark look.

"Woah, no, no problems here I'm just curious is all, I swear." Gray answered quickly holding his hands up.

"For your information, this was a past life in which I was a man." Lucy stated "But I'll find her, whether she is a man or woman in this new life it matters not. I will find her and I will get her to accept my feelings, even if it takes until the end of time."

"Well don't give up, I'm sure you'll win her over eventually." Natsu said encouragingly.

"We have a serious problem here, you boys hygiene." Erza interrupted changing the subject. "I refuse to sleep in a room that reeks of sweat."

"I don't wanna take a bath right now," Natsu whined.

"But I already got into bed," Gray agreed lying on Lucy's bed.

"Come on boys, do we have to take a bath together like when we were kids?" Erza asked, making both boy blush with embarrassment at those memories.

"What kind of relationship do you guys have exactly?" Lucy asked with a smirk.

"They're the strongest team!" Happy cheered.

"Well the strongest team can have their bath after mine." Lucy said as she left to go have a bath.

"Ok seriously." Gray piped up after Lucy was gone "Am I the only one who notices that she's acting way nicer than she ever has?"

"As much as I hate to agree with the stripper, he's got a point its kind a weird." Natsu commented.

"According to what the master told me personality fluctuations like this aren't uncommon with her." Erza stated "He never told me his source but apparently the Egotistical Narcissist and this kind and gentle one are both parts of Lucy personality and she frequently witches between the two without noticing herself. It's probably for the best if we just let it happen."

"I guess." Gray sighed staring at the door.

"I'm going to go take my bath now too." Erza said standing up and following Lucy out.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"You sure this is okay?" Droy asked as Team Shadow Gear walked down the streets of Magnolia after the sun had set.

"Shouldn't you stay with Laki and the others at the girls dorm?" Jet agreed.

"It's fine, I don't want to split up our team," Levy replied happily, unaware of the blushes on her teammates faces.

"The three of us can face anything together!" Jet cheered.

"I'll always protect you," Droy added, with just as much enthusiasm as Jet.

"No, I will!" argued Jet.

The three stopped turned around as they heard something rushing at them from behind. They didn't even have time to cry out before darkness took them.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Lucy quietly emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body and another one around her damp hair.

"Okay Natsu, I'm done with my bath it's your turn." she said before pausing and chuckling when she saw that he'd fallen asleep.

"Wanna take his place?" Lucy asked Gray.

"Mm."

"You should, if was so relaxing," Erza sighed sitting on the bed wearing just her towel to conceal her modesty.

"Glad you're all so comfortable." Lucy smirked as she shook her head.

"I suppose I should get dressed," Erza said before using her Requip Magic to change into her Heart Kreuz pyjamas. "Is this more appropriate?"

"You really like using that Requip Magic don't you?" Lucy said as she watched Erza make herself another cup of tea.

"It still doesn't make sense for Phantom to commit an act of vandalism out of the blue like that." Lucy sighed "Do you have any ideas as to why they'd try to provoke a fight now?"

"I'm afraid I don't," Erza replied crossing her arms and getting a thoughtful look on her face, "We have had our fair share of scuffles with them in the past, but never anything on this sort of magnitude before."

"If Gramps wasn't so scared of them we could wipe out those punks once and for all." Natsu grumbled now awake.

"Come on, you know Master isn't afraid of them Natsu," Gray interjected, "You seem to be forgetting he's one of the Ten Wizard Saints."

Lucy looked at Gray and widened her eyes when she saw what he was reading.

"I never gave you permission to read that!" she cried snatching the papers he was reading out of his hand.

"You can't snatch it outta my hands without at least telling me what happens next," Gray argued.

"Yes, I can," Lucy countered, "If you wanna read it then you'll have to buy a copy when its published like everyone else."

Erza extended her hand towards Lucy and held it out expectantly.

"You're not getting a sneak preview either." Lucy said to her with exasperation.

Gray huffed loudly and crossed his arms.

"The Ten Wizard saints are the most powerful wizards on the continent if I recall." Lucy stated "The strongest among them are called the Four Gods of Ishgar right?"

"Yes that's correct." Erza confirmed "I heard that a few years ago Warrod stepped down from his position as one of the Four Gods in favour of another recommended by God Serena himself. Though no one knows that person's identity and neither Warrod nor the other three are talking."

"Phantom Lord's Master Jose is one of the three wizard saints too." Happy added.

_'That's true,'_ Erza thought, thinking of Seigrain, _'And so is he.'_

Natsu slammed his hands on the table.

"He is afraid! He's scared that Phantom has too many members for us to handle!"

"Inside voice voice Natsu." Lucy ordered "Your voice echoes in this place."

"That is not true and you know it. It's just like Master and Lucy said, the consequences of us going to war with Phantom are nowhere near worth the fight." Gray said, "The order of the magical world is at stake here."

"They ain't got nothing on us," Natsu boasted, "We could crush those clowns easy."

"No," Erza intervened with a stern tone. "If we were to fight them then neither guild would survive. Their strength equals ours. Phantom Lords Master Jose is also one of the Ten Wizard Saints, which means he's on par with Makarov. They also have an elite group of wizards similar to our S-Class known as the Element Four. However, their biggest threat may be 'Black Steel Gajeel,' I believe that he's most likely the one behind the guild halls destruction. He's known as the Iron Dragon Slayer."

"Another Dragon Slayer eh?" Lucy tilted her head to the side "They must be less rare than I thought."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Meanwhile at Phantom Lords Guild hall Gajeel was trying to eat a plate full of metal but was being bother by another one of his Guild mates bragging about what Gajeel had done to their rival guild.

"So Gajeel, I heard you made a mess out of Fairy Tails guild hall. Ah man, I wish I coulda seen the looks on their faces. They probably ran away crying to their mommies. Boo-hoo! Somebody broke my play house! Hahahahah!"

Gajeels arm stretched out, turning into a giant iron rod and smashing into the man's face which sent him flying. The other Phantom Lord members around the guild hall burst into laughter at the sight.

"How many times do I have to tell ya?" he growled as his arm returned to normal, "I don't like to be bothered while I'm eating! And besides, those Fairy Tail clowns can't challenge us, we're way more powerful than they could ever hope to be."

"The die has been cast. I compliment your excellent work, Gajeel," said Master Jose as he entered the room and looked down from a balcony.

"I didn't think we were hard enough on 'em." Gajeel said darkly "So I decided to leave them a little somethin' extra. A present that's sure to get those Fairy Tailers panties in a knot."

"Very good, my boy." Jose praised the Iron Dragon Slayer "Now all we need to do is wait for Minerva to accomplish her mission and acquire our guest of honour."

"Hopefully the kid won't screw things up." Gajeel said "She may be the world's worst singer but she is a decent fighter."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"So you all used Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide where you sleep?" Lucy asked, sitting on her bed, "Why wasn't I included?"

"This is your home, Lucy, we wouldn't take your bed away from you," Gray said.

"But we did have to decide which two were going to sleep on the floor and who would share the bed with you," Erza informed her as she unrolled a sleeping bag.

"Well if it's one of the boys who won your little contest, I hope he doesn't mind castration as the condition for sharing a bed with me." Lucy said with a cheerful smile and far too happy tone which made both boys shiver, before they decided to allow Erza to have the bed with Lucy.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The next morning Gray, Natsu and Erza had gotten dressed and left Lucy's manor and were now at the Magnolia Southgate Park.

"Lucy was gone when we woke up, not even a goodbye." Natsu grumbled.

"Well she did say that she wanted to do that mission alone." Erza replied "She probably woke up early so she could leave without being followed.

"Hey what's going on here?" Gray asked as a crowd of people looking at something blocked their way.

"Hey isn't Team Shadow Gear from Fairy Tail?" One person in the crowd asked.

"What happened?" Another questioned

"Excuse us, we're from their guild," Erza ordered as she marched through the crowd which parted for her, Natsu and Gray. "Please let us through."

They were frozen by shock as they stared at the large oak tree before them. Clamped to its trunk with iron was team Shadow Gear, Phantom Lords symbol painted on Levy's bare skin.

"Levy, Jet, Droy!" Gray cried out seeing the three.

"Phantom Lord did this." Natsu growled as he began visibly shaking with rage.

"Master…" Erza said quietly as Makarov joined them.

"I can take our headquarters being reduced to rubble, but I will not let harm come to my children without taking revenge! " Master Makarov growled as he crushed the staff in his hand. " We have no choice but to go to war!"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Meanwhile a few miles away at the small town of Vernos Lucy had gathered the towns people into the Town Hall and set up a barrier Noble Phantasm to keep them safe while she dealt with the Dark Guild Raiders. The barrier was insurance in case someone amongst the raiders had more than one brain cell and decided to try sneaking around her to get to the townsfolk.

Luckily her Noble Phantasm was stronger than a fortress wall, so a bunch of raiders would never be able to break it.

"Here they come." Lucy smiled as she saw a motely crowd with similar tattoos on their bodies gathering on a nearby hill. "This is a gonna be a piece of cake." She smirked pulling a pair of keys from her Gate of Babylon. "Open Gate of the Maiden and the Golden Bull, Virgo and Taurus!"

From their respective gates appeared Taurus and a now petite Virgo whom Lucy had established a contract with a few days ago.

"You called Princess?" Virgo asked using the name Lucy had asked for, not wishing to be called my king by Virgo.

"Alright you two." Lucy summoned a War axe for Taurus and some Greaves and Gauntlets for Virgo. "Those idiots over there are from a Dark Guild and want to get to the townsfolk behind us." Lucy took out Durandal and held it at the ready. "Our job is just beat the leaving daylights out of these morons."

Equipping the weapons, they were given the Celestial Spirits got into ready stances along with their master.

"We ain't afraid of one Celestial Wizard and a couple of spirits, let kill 'em and destroy the town." One of the Dark Guild members yelled "CHARGE!"

The crowd at least a two hundred strong composed of men and women alike all charged as one believing that their job was an easy one. They would soon find out just how wrong they were.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Oak Town is located in the northeast corner of Fiore and is home to one very large branch of the Phantom Lord guild.

"That's priceless." One wizard laughed.

"Those Fairy clowns got what they had comin' to 'em!" Another said.

"I heard Gajeel went and took out three of them himself!" the third chuckled.

"Ah we can't let him have all the fun."

"Yeah we need to try pickin' off a few fairy wings ourselves."

Before the bragging trio could exit the door they were about to leave throw was completely destroyed sending them flying. Standing in the midst of the wreckage was nearly every member of Fairy Tail.

"FAIRY TAIL HAS COME CALLING!" Master Makarov boomed.

"Alright, who wants to play with fire?!" Natsu shouted, barrelling through Phantom Lord members.

"Purple Net!" Macao said, "Now Wakaba!"

"On it," Wakaba said, "Here comes Smoke Crush!"

"Guns Magic!"

Alzack fired rapidly at the many Phantom Lord Wizards knocking them all out cold.

"That one's my spark shot," Alzack said, before returning his gun to its holster.

"Eat thi-"

"Very nice shootin' Bisca." Alzack thanked, looking up to the wizard in question who had sniped a Phantom Lord Wizard about to ambush him.

"Getting' a little rusty there, Al," she teased, before taking aim t more Phantom members. "Target locked on: Homing Shot!"

The homing shot single-handedly took out over twenty wizards with one. Master Makarov decided to join in growing to his giant state, crushing many more Phantom members beneath his hand.

"He's a monster!"

"When you dare to lay your hands on this monster's children! Are you foolish enough to believe human laws would protect you from my rage?"

"So powerful…"

"All the members are strong too!"

"Yeah, they're totally nuts!"

"I didn't know Fairy Tail was like this!"

"Pict Magic! Nature Run Wild!" Reedus exclaimed.

"Wood Make Magic: The Dam of Shy Love!" Laki yelled.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean lady?"

"Let's get the cat!"

"Piece of cake!"

"Oh yeah?" Happy said darkly as he was quickly surrounded, "Don't forget, I'm a wizard too! You got a problem with cats?"

"Of course not, Sir!"

"Jose show yourself!"

Erza used requip and changed into her Flame Empress Armor.

"Tell me! Where can I find Gajeel and the Element Four?" Erza asked angrily.

"How do you like this?"

Natsu smirked and inhaled all the flames shot his way.

"Oh yeah, now I've got a fire in my belly!"

"What the…"

"He just ate fire!"

"You don't think that he's one of those?!"

"I'm gonna blow you away, Roar of the Fire Dragon!"

"Ice Make: Lance!" shouted Gray.

"Wood Make Magic: Distance Between the Two is Forever!" Laki said.

"I still don't know what the heck you're talking about, lady."

"Guns Magic: Mud Shot!" Alzack yelled

"Requip! Magic Shotgun" Bisca called out requipping her magic shotgun "Wide Shot!"

Gray and Natsu were back to back, frost on Gray's hands and flames on Natsu's.

"You're not doin' too bad for a snowman," Natsu taunted the Ice Make wizard.

"I could say the same about you, ya pyro," Gray fired back.

"Got 'em right where we want 'em, don't we?" Wakaba grinned at Macao.

"You betcha." Macao grinned agreeing with Wakaba.

"Erza! I'll leave the rabble to you." Master Makarov as he headed up the stairs.

"Yes Sir!"

"Jose must be lurking on the top floor, when I find him they'll be hell to pay."

"Please, be careful," Erza whispered as she watched Makarov smash through a wall and go deeper in.

"Now that their little boss man's outta the way it's time I threw myself into the mix." Gajeel stated jumping down from the rafters to join the fight.

"Card Magic: Lightning, Reverse Tower, Lover!" Cana called. "Rain of Lightning!" Her attack shocked several more Phantom lord grunts.

"Come on, man up! Don't you wanna be like me?" Elfman yelled using his beast arm to send Phantom Wizards flying.

"Woah, that guys a brute!"

"What happened to his arm?"

"It's Take-Over Magic."

"Why would anyone let a monster take over their arm?"

"That's Elfman!"

"I've heard of him, he kills monsters then absorbs their power, they call him Beast Arm Elfman!"

The entire guild hall shook as Gajeel landed on the balcony, cracking the Phantom Lord sign as he did.

"Who's that?"

"It's gotta be…"

"It's the Iron Dragon Slayer," Erza growled, "Black Steel Gajeel."

"You attacked Levy and our guild!" shouted Naab.

Gajeel slammed his fist into the Naab, his arm lengthening as it turned to iron. He sent the wizard, knocking over anyone in his path friend or foe.

"What the- he just knocked out his own guild mates with that attack!" Gray exclaimed.

"Heh, heh, show me what you got, unless you scum are too scared to face the great Iron Dragon Slayer."

"Too scared?! Real men have no fear!" Elfman shouted while charging Gajeel.

"You're Elfman, right?" Gajeel asked catching Elfmans punch and attempting to counter attack.

Elfman quickly dodged all attacks, catching Gajeels right foot even as it became an Iron rod.

"Aah, not bad big guy."

"Well that's cause I'm a real man," Elfman retorted.

"Yeah? Then let's see how a real man handles this!"

Gajeel sent more iron rods from his leg and slammed them into his own men.

"They're Phantom! You attacked your own men?!"

"Cause I knew it'd distract you!" laughed Gajeel as his free fist slammed into Elfman and sending him backwards. Without even a second to react Natsu was in Gajeel's face, using Elfman as a spring board. He sent Gajeel flying backwards into their bar, making everyone gasp.

"Woh, that kid sent him flying!"

"Nobody's ever done that before!"

"Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer!" Natsu growled, "Elfman leave this guy to me."

"Come on," Elfman groaned, "First you use me as a spring board and now you wanna steal my man-to-man fight?"

"Iron Dragon Claw!" Natsu held on tightly to Gajeel's iron arm as he slid backwards eventuall coming to a halt as he dug his feet in to the ground.

"Natsu!" Erza shouted in worry.

"You destroyed our guild hall and you attacked Levy and her team. I'll make you pay!" Natsu growled as his hands began heating up before throwing the Iron Dragon Slayer into the rafters.

Gajeel flipped over in the air and leapt off a beam and back at Natsu. His fist was blocked and Natsu sent him flying again.

"Woah, the kids fired up now." Wakaba smirked.

"Yeah, I'd hate to be that other guy," Macao commented.

"He's quite a wizard," Erza smiled.

"Alright fine, you're manlier than I thought." Elfman conceded. "I'll let you have this one but you gotta promise me that you're gonna-"

"You bet, I'll beat him to a pulp!" Natsu vowed with a smirk.

"Nice try, but I'm still standin'," Gajeel said as he rose from the rubble.

"True, but you won't be for much longer though," taunted Natsu.

"Oh yeah?" Gajeel asked.

"Bet that hurt," Gray commented as Gajeel sent Nasu flying.

"Aaw, what's the matter? You can dish it out but you can't take it?"

Flames encompassed Natsu as he jumped to his feet, grinning.

"It's gonna take a lot more than that to keep me down."

"You seriously think you can beat me, pyro?"

Magic seals appeared upon the hands of both Dragon Slayers.

"What do ya mean think? I know I can."

"We'll see about that!"

Natsu block Gajeel's Iron rod like arm with a single hand.

"Your steel beams can't even touch me, you better start steppin' up your game!" Natsu growled, still covered in flames.

"The rumours are true, you're way more powerful then you look. That actually burns a little," Gajeel taunted, his arm returning to normal,

"I'm just gettin' warmed up. Cause you ain't seen nothin' yet!" They stared one another down before lunging forward, creating craters in the floor from the force of their attacks. They began exchanging blows, however even as Gajeel was able to block Natsu's attacks one got through forcing him to dodge. But Natsu didn't relent and punching Gajeel in the head sending him smashing through several more rafters before he was able to correct himself and hang upside down from a beam.

"How do you like that, punk?"

"Don't get cocky, it won't happen again," Gajeel replied still feeling confident.

Again Gajeel looked Natsu up and down just before the entire guild began to shake.

"Everything's shaking," Wakaba noticed.

"Looks like they're going at it," Macao commented.

"I don't like the sound of that," Gray added.

"This is what happens when Master Makarov's angry," Cana chuckled.

"It's called the Giants Wrath, nobody can stop him now," Naab stated.

"When he gets angry, the Master's even manlier," Elfman commented.

"Prepare to fight," Erza ordered, brandishing her sword, "We cannot lose as long as long as Master Makarov's still with us!"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

In a particular room high up in the Phantom Lord Guild hall a wall completely disintegrated before Makarov's immense magical power.

"Jose!"

"Look what the cat dragged in…" Jose commented sitting in a throne.

"Why are you attacking Fairy Tail? Tell me!"

The glass in the windows shattered as Master Makarov began exerting his magic power even more. The power was so strong the ground itself began to crack beneath him as he approached Jose.

"I haven't seen you in quite a while Makarov, six years ago at a Guild Masters Conference. I remember that day, I was a complete mess. I can't hold my liquor as well as the rest of you."

"I didn't come here for small talk, I want answers Jose!" Master Makarov yelled as he slammed his gigantic fist into Jose.

"A projection? You coward, I should've known you'd flee with your tail between your legs." Makarov commented as he realised that Jose was simply projecting himself

"It's not cowardice, I'm simply trying to avoid a fight between two of the Wizard Saints. In avoidance of that mess, I prefer a victory without all of the commotion," Jose replied calmly.

"Why are you hiding? Come out and face me like a man!"

Master Jose chuckled darkly, his gaze lowering to the floor before himself. Slowly a second projection appeared, one of a young blonde unconscious female.

"L-Lucy? But how?"

"I can understand your confusion as to how, I accomplished this feat." Jose stated "These reincarnated Heroes are notoriously hard to subdue; I have one such individual in my own guild she has her own Noble Phantasm and its power is extraordinary. Even Gajeel couldn't beat her. But luckily for me your Lucy has a special weakness put in place by her own mother. Which I have the key to." Jose let out a smirk and held a beautifully made ornate music box in his hand.

"Where did you get that?!" Makarov demanded.

"From my client. You see as you may or may not be aware Lucy's mother worried that she might do something she'd regret and so perform a special magic surgery on her." Jose explained "She had a special rune put onto the part of Lucy's brain that deals with sound set to trigger at a specific tune. So now whenever Lucy hears this Music Box playing the runes activate and she falls to sleep instantly, this also has the convenient side effect of rendering her defenceless."

With that proclamation Jose gathered a darkness spell in his hand and held it above Lucy

"No don't!" Makarov yelled panicking upon seeing one of his children in danger.

He whipped around as wind suddenly began stirring.

_'Where'd he come from?'_ Master Makarov wondered as a tall weeping man appeared behind him. _'I couldn't even sense his presence!'_

"It's so sad, so sad!" exclaimed the weeping man who was lurking behind Master Makarov. "It's heart-breaking! Why am I suddenly feeling so melancholy?"

There was a flash of magical power and Makarov fell, crashing to the ground floor amongst the members of Fairy Tail still fighting on the ground floor.

"It must be because the world has just lost a great wizard."

_'What happened to me? I feel weak,'_ Makarov wondered in his thoughts, a feeling of powerlessness covering his whole body. _'My magic, it's gone!'_

"What the…" Elfman wondered.

"Something fell from the rafters!"

"It's Gramps!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Is he okay?!" Gray asked.

"Master!" Erza shouted.

"Such sorrow…"

"Makarov is powerless now thanks to Aria of the Heavens, a member of my Element Four." Jose explained with a grin. "He has the ability to make others wizards power just disappear into thin air."

Everyone watched as Master Jose came down the steps into the guild hall. Before him floated the hologram of Lucy.

"I think it's safe to say we've won this round, Fairy Tail."

"M-my power is; m-my m-magic is…" Makarov was too weak even get the words of his situation out.

"Master." Erza called to Makarov

"What happened to him?" Cana asked, kneeling down beside Makarov.

"I don't know, but I don't sense any magic energy comin' from him at all," Gray answered.

"Gray are you saying he's just an ordinary old man now?" Elfman asked.

"No, that can't be!" Happy cried.

"Come on Gramps, you can pull through this!" Natsu pushed.

"Guess the funs over and just when things were starting to get good." Gajeel grumbled.

"I don't understand, Gramps is so powerful, how'd they beat him?" Gray wondered.

"Only way to find out is to go up there." Elfman stated looking up at the floors above.

"The Masters been defeated!"

"For real?"

"What? He's out?"

"You guys, we can beat them."

"They're not half as strong without their Master."

"And we've got Gajeel and the Element Four on our side."

_'This is bad,'_ thought Erza.

"NOW'S OUR CHANCE! LET'S GET 'EM!"

"Don't you start getting cocky!" Natsu shouted, punching away the charging Phantom wizards with a flaming fist.

"Ah crap, what now," Gray growled.

"Oh no!" Cana exclaimed as three Phantom members sent combination attack of wind, fire and earth magc at her.

"CANA!" Wakaba shouted in warning.

"Here just in time, you're lucky," Macao coughed as he used his body to block the attack coming at Cana.

"You shouldn't push yourself so hard, you're too old for this," Cana said with worry.

"I'm not old!" Macao argued still ready to fight despite his injuries.

Erza looked around at her comrades as they slowly began to lose their edge, falling one by one.

"We must retreat! Everyone back to the guild at once!"

"What? No way!" Gray argued.

"Real men don't retreat!" Elfman agreed.

"I still got some fight in me," Macao growled with determination.

"Me too!" Cana added.

"We can't stay; we don't stand a chance against Jose. Now retreat, that's an order!" Erza yelled.

"There they go, I knew it wouldn't be long before those gutless cowards gave up and started running for their lives," Gajeel sighed with disappointment.

"They're retreating with sorrow in their hearts."

"Aria, nice to see you're just as creepy as ever," Gajeel greeted the member of the Element Four, "I gotta commend you on talking down that Fairy Tail geezer."

"I just followed Master Jose's orders, but thank you!" Aria said, bursting into tears again.

"Why're you always crying? Jeez, cut it out," Gajeel said, his eyes on Natsu, "So what happened with that Lucy girl?"

Hearing Lucy's name Natsu looked up and listening in on Aria and Gajeel.

"Minerva is dealing with her as we speak." Aria replied stopping his weeping. "With luck she should be captured soon."

"Minerva huh?" Gajeel winced "I may hate the Fairies but I wouldn't wish that kid on anyone. She's a vicious little runt."

"Damn it." Natsu growled upon hearing this.

"Is something wrong?" Happy asked.

"GAJEEL!"

"Hmm? We'll finish this someday, Salamander."

Both Gajeel and Aria disappeared from sight and were gone.

"Those assholes… they're trying to get Lucy!"

"Everybody out, let's go!" Erza ordered as the Fairy Tail members began retreating the Phantom wizards giving chase.

"Erza, they're after Lucy!" Natsu yelled at Titania.

"We'll have to warn her once we get back to the Guild." Erza stated "Even if we can't warn her in time she'll be fine. Trust me, Lucy won't go down easily."

"Grrr…I'll kick your ass next time Gajeel!" Natsu yelled before reluctantly retreating with the rest of the Guild.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Well that was easier than I thought." Lucy said dusting off her hands. "Thanks for your help Taurus and Virgo." She thanked the two Celestial Spirits as she returned the weapons she lent them to the Gate of Babylon.

"No problem Ms Luuuuucy." Taurus replied.

"Anytime princess." Virgo said bowing as she and Taurus returned to the Celestial Spirit World.

"Now then…" Lucy looked around at the idiots who were all sprawled out across the field they'd decided to charge through. "I guess I should tie these morons up and shove them in that deep hole I had Virgo dig. That should hold them until the Magic Council can arrest them, then I'll be going back home. Hopefully Natsu hasn't done anything stupid while I've been gone."

"I'm afraid the only place you'll be going is with me." A young voice exclaimed.

Lucy turned around to see a girl about thirteen or so years old with pink hair, dragon horns and tail, a lance that seemed to double as a microphone in her hand.

"And just how do you think you're going to accomplish that shorty?" Lucy teased the girl who puffed out her cheeks in irritation.

"Don't underestimate me, I'm Minerva Orland." She twirled her lance in her hand and pointed it at Lucy "But with my Noble Phantasm no mere wizard has ever beaten me."

"Ah, so you are another heroic spirit who was reincarnated yes?"

"That's right." Minerva confirmed "Oh, I wish I could have you, your blood would keep me young and beautiful for years, but Master Jose wants you instead."

"This should be good for a laugh." Lucy smirked.

"Here I come!" Minerva yelled charging at Lucy.


	12. Phantom Lord Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only. ******  
> [-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"That was pathetic." Lucy sighed looking down at Minerva Orland a.k.a Elizabeth Bathory who was now sprawled out on the ground unconscious after Lucy had managed to grab her lance away and smash her on the head with it.

The golden haired girl looked over the village and looked upon the bodies of the dark guild morons who she sent into unconsciousness. More than a few of them had broken bones or light wounds, either way they wouldn't be going anywhere until the Rune Knights came to arrest them.

A sudden fit coughing caught her attention, she looked and saw a girl with long purple hair, and the dark guilds emblem on the back of her left hand leaning against one of the buildings clearly in pain. Then again being punted through the walls of three houses would do that to you.

The girl managed to stop coughing and look up when Lucy walked over to her.

"I remember you." Lucy commented "Even though most of your idiot pals went down in one hit you just kept coming for more. I couldn't help but notice that as the Sun rose higher you seemed to get stronger. Add to that the fact that your far more durable than these idiots and one might suspect that your heroic spirit."

The girl's eyes widened slightly before looking away.

"But if you are a Heroic Spirit surely you'd recognise by my power that I was one too." Lucy noted "So why didn't you use your Noble Phantasm?"

"I….I don't have it." The girl confessed shamefully.

"Please don't tell me you sold it."

"No, my….our soul was split between my brother and me, he has the Noble Phantasm, I have certain abilities that increases my power until sunset."

"So, you and your brother must be Gawain am I right?" Lucy asked with a smirk. "But what your name in this life?"

"Kagura, Kagura Mikazuchi." Kagura introduced herself. "I joined these morons only to try and find my brother who was kidnapped years ago."

"He was kidnapped while in possession of a Noble Phantasm?" Lucy asked sceptically as she lowered herself to one knees to be eye level with Kagura.

"It doesn't respond to us." Kagura coughed as she managed to sit herself up. "We think that it's because our soul is split between two people, even when we try using it together it doesn't use its power, so it's just a power holy sword. We think that in order for the sword to acknowledge one of us as its master, our soul would have to become complete…"

"And for that one of you would have to die so that the two halves would unite with each other." Lucy sighed and stared at Kagura thoughtfully got a few seconds before withdrawing a small red vial from the Gate of Babylon and shoving it into Kagura's hands.

"W-whats this?"

"It's a special potion that will your wounds if you drink it." Lucy answered as she stood up and turned her back to the wounded girl "Drink it and get out of here before the Magic Council shows up."

"But why?" Kagura asked surprised at the unexpected kindness.

"Consider it my good deed for the day." Lucy shrugged as she began to walk away "Oh and if you ever join a dark guild again, I'll kill you next time. So stay on the straight narrow while you look for your brother."

As she watched the strange girl walk away Kagura stared at the little red vial for moment, her thoughts awhirl as to what Simon would think if he could see her now. Would he praise her for doing whatever it took to try and find him? Or would he condemn her for joining a Dark Guild? Unsure but determined to find out the answer for herself Kagura opened the vial and began drinking its contents.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Recovering from unconsciousness Minerva Orland picked herself up and rubbed the spot on her head where she'd been struck.

"Ow, ow, ow. That wasn't fair at all." She complained childishly with tears in her eyes. "She hit me with my own weapon, that's gotta be cheating or something."

"There is no cheating in battle." A familiar voice stated causing Minerva to freeze "There only the winner and the loser."

"W-what do you want?" Minerva demanded.

"That is my line." Lucy replied "Why did you attack me?"

"Ugh…..It was my part of the plan." Minerva answered still more focused on rubbing her throbbing head.

"What plan?"

"Master Jose got a job to bring you back to your dad who hired us, so Jose planned to use the opportunity to lure Fairy Tail into attacking." Minerva blurted out. "It worked and now Jose is preparing to finish Fairy Tail off after they retreated."

"It figures that father would involved in this." Lucy sighed "And why are you just telling me this?"

"Oh, I don't give a crap about Jose or his stupid plan." Minerva answered brightly with a cheerful smile on her face. "I only joined Phantom Lord because they were a big guild that were given missions with big rewards. My daddy wanted the money to take over some guild called Sabertooth or something, I didn't pay too attention after he promised I could be the guilds singing idol when he took over."

"Is there anything else I should know?" Lucy asked of the girl.

"Oh, you should hurry back to your guild hall because the Phantom Lord Guild hall can move and even transform into a giant robot." Minerva informed her "It also has a Jupiter cannon so Jose's probably on the way to use it on Fairy Tail."

"Good grief, I leave for a few hours and everything goes belly up without me." Lucy sighed summoning the Vimana and boarding it. "I bet Natsu is to blame for this, wait till I get my hands on him."

"Bye bye." Minerva waved as Lucy soared off in the Vimana before looking over the dark guild wizards who were still unconscious. "Hmm…. a little extra cash never hurt and these guys are all just Dark Guild wizards anyway."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After retreating back to the Guild Hall and the members of Fairy Tail were licking their wounds after the disastrous attack on Phantom Lord.

By the bar Can and Mira were trying to get a hold of the Guild's other S-Class wizards. Gildarts was off on a long quest and unreachable as always. This left Laxus and Mystogan as their only options to call upon. Cana had a set of magical cards set up in front of her, trying to contact or at least locate Mystogan; however, her attempts were in vain.

"C'mon! I'm not getting any kind of read on where Mystogan is!" Cana growled scattering the cards in frustration.

"Oh dear, you did your best Cana." Mirajane assured her.

"With Lucy in their hands they won't hesitate the finish us off." Cana said. "Right now, we just got too many wounded to put up much of a fight."

"Master is seriously wounded and we can't locate Mystogan." Mira stated as she stared stared into lacrima ball sitting on a four-legged stand. "You're the only one we can turn to. Please help us, Laxus, we could really use you right now."

" _Man! Makarov is freaking pathetic!"_ Laxus laughed before stopping to sneer. _"I don't see how this is remotely my problem. Your big girls, so deal with it yourselves!_ "

"So you're not gonna help us!?" Cana shouted incredulously.

" _Of course not!"_ Laxus replied. _"Why would I? That senile old toad started this. Why do I have to be the one to clean up his mess?"_

"Please Laxus," Mira tried pleading to Laxus again. "Phantom has kidnapped Lucy."

" _Oh her, not my problem. She should be able to deal with this herself."_

"You are such an asshole!" Cana yelled.

_"Are you sure you want to talk that way to a guy you're begging to help yah? Do me a favour, if that geezer manages to pull through this, tell him he's over the hill and he should hand the Guild over to me!"_ the S-Class wizard broke out into another fit of laughter which was cut off when the lacrima shattered into tiny pieces, courtesy of Mira.

"Mira?" Cana whispered to the barmaid in shock.

"I don't understand." Mirajane whimpered with tears streaming down her face. "How can someone in Fairy Tail be so heartless and cruel?" She then turned around with determination on her face. "I can't just sit here and watch. I must join the others and fight!"

"Wait!" Cana objected. "Don't be ridiculous!"

"I'm only useless being here at the Guild Hall." Mira snapped. "I wanna help!"

"I understand but you'll only get in the way as you are now." Cana placed a supportive. hand on Mira's shoulder. "…even if you were once an S-Class wizard."

Mirajane glanced at Cana with tears streaming down her face. She knew that Cana was right, which only made her feel worse.

Without warning, the ground began to shake violently. Parts of the roof and wall chipped off of the Guild Hall and fell to the floor.

"Hey, what's going on?" Gray asked.

"OUTSIDE!" Alzack yelled as he rushed through the doors with a panicked look on his face.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The uninjured Fairy Tail wizards rushed outside and froze in fear at what they saw. Walking through Lake Sciliora which bordered Magnolia, was the Phantom Lord Headquarters standing on eight giant bronze legs. The earth shook with each step that the giant building on legs took as it approached the shoreline in front of Fairy Tail's Guild Hall.

"What is that thing?!" Natsu exclaimed fearfully.

"It's a Guild Hall with ginormous legs!" Happy cried.

"Is it Phantom?" Loke stammered.

Fear caused all those watching to freeze in place at the sight.

"I did not anticipate this. I did not think they would go to such extreme lengths to attack us!" Erza said.

Phantom Headquarters took one more giant step before it came to a halt. The building remained motionless for a short moment before a hatchway at the front lowered, allowing a long metal barrel to extend out.

Suddenly, dark blue energy began to swirl and coalesce into a sphere at the end of the cannon's barrel, growing larger and larger by the second.

"RUN! GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Erza yelled running towards the edge of the cliff and requipping.

"Erza!" Mirajane shouted.

"Don't be stupid!" Macao called after her.

"She Requipped" Cana exclaimed.

"What're you doing?"

"Protecting the guild hall!" Erza replied as an armour materialised on her.

It had a singular, blue chest plate with a lighter blue belt around the waist. Three spikes lined the top of the chest plate which gives way to a white neck brace split in the centre to allow room for her chin. The shoulders are sectioned with a large spike dividing each section, the middle spike being the largest of the three. The gauntlets have only a few sections. Attached to the elbows are two halves of a large white shield which gave the Armor its defensive power.

Attached to the bottom of the chest plate is two-layer metallic skirt with small spikes hanging on the ends of each layer. A larger spike hangs inward on the bottom layer. Erza's legs are covered in a sectioned armour to match the rest of the armour with a pair of greaves starting at the knees. The greaves bear a blue design shaped like the large spike that hangs off the skirt. Several curving spikes attach just below the knee of the greaves. A large spiked headdress adorned her head

"That's her Adamantine Armor," Happy said.

"Is she gonna try to block the cannons shot?" Bisca asked.

"But there's no way her armour's gonna hold out against a blast that strong!" Alzack said.

"You're risking your life, this is ridiculous!" Wakaba agreed.

"Just stay back!"

"ERZA!" Natsu yelled trying to get to Erza.

"You won't be able to stop her." Gray said, holding Natsu back. "We just gotta have faith in her."

Black lightning rippled across the energy ball collecting at the end of the barrel. Eventually it finished and with an earth-shaking boom, a large beam fired out from the cannon.

Erza placed both halves of the shield together and braced herself for impact. Suddenly there was a loud sound like a 'thoom'.

"Hey what is that?" Bisca asked looking at something.

"I don't know but it's blocking the Jupiter cannon completely." Alzack stated.

Erza's curiosity got the better of her and she opened up her armours shield and gasped as she saw a golden shield in the shape of a flower with seven petals blocking the blast.

"Ar….cher?" Erza spoke the name as a sudden rush of suppressed memories overwhelmed her and an aria she thought belongs to the person ' _I am the Bone of my Sword._ '

"Sorry my dear…" A familiar voice stated everyone looked up to see Lucy standing on the Vimana just above their heads "No fakes here only the genuine article."

"Lucy!" Gray yelled with relief.

"I thought those Phantom assholes captured you?" Natsu cried.

"No, I was still out my mission when I heard that we were at war with Phantom Lord." Lucy answered jumping down to the ground as the Jupiter blast faded away and the shield returned to the Gate of Babylon. "Speaking of which….Natsu I specifically told you not to start a fight with them! Why did you disobey me?!"

"What?! Why are blaming me for starting this?" Natsu demanded as everyone went silent and stared at him. "OH COME ON IT'S NOT ALWAYS ME!"

" **I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU FOUND A SHIELD THAT CAN BLOCK THE JUPITER CANNON.** " Jose's voice yelled " **BUT IN FIFTEEN MINUTES YOUR ABOUT SEE IF IT CAN TAKE A SECOND SHO-** "

The Phantom Lord Master was cut off by loud crash and a boom as the Jupiter cannon suddenly began falling apart from an explosion within the barrel.

"There I've destroyed your Jupiter cannon." Lucy stated closed the Gate of Babylon. "Now if you don't mind I'm trying to talk to my guild mates!"

" **YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS YOU LITTLE BITCH!** " Jose yelled as the Phantom HQ suddenly began changing shape.

"Now answers Natsu!" Lucy demanded.

"Er….Lucy?" Laki tried interrupting.

"In minutes Laki." Lucy waved her off continuing to glare at Natsu who was sweating "I'm waiting Natsu."

"Lucy!" Macao said her name urgently as the Phantom HQ sudden began standing on two legs and becoming more and more human like.

"In a minute." Lucy snapped still glaring at Natsu.

"Oh for the love of…." Erza grabbed Lucy's head and turned it to face the Phantom HQ which now looked like a giant bipedal robot.

"Oh, it became a giant robot." Lucy said "So what?"

"It's drawing something." Bisca stated seeing a pattern begin forming in front of the robot being drawn using its hands.

"A magic circle!" Laki cried.

"That's the magic circle for an Abyss Break, a forbidden spell." Cana said with wide eyes.

"Look at the size of it!" Loke gasped. "A black wave that big would wipe out the entire city!"

"For the love of…." Several golden portals opened near Lucy again and out of them poured two streams of weapons one aimed either of the giant's arms.

They flew and impacted upon the joints which connected the arms to the shoulders of the colossus which quickly cracked and fell off the robot, no match for the bombardment of Noble Phantasms, the magic circle fading away as the arms plummeted with a splash into the lake.

"Ok, Now Natsu explain to me what you have done for us to be at war with these Phantom mongrels." Lucy demanded losing her patience.

"For once it wasn't Natsu." Gray spoke up. "That Gajeel attacked Team Shadow Gear and that set Master Makarov off. Long story short we went and attacked them and retreated after they got the drop on the old man."

" **I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU, KILL THEM ALL MY SOLDIERS!** " Jose yelled as an army of shade soldiers appeared and began flying at the Fairy Tail wizards.

"What are those?" Wakaba asked.

"They're Phantom Troopers created using shade magic." Lucy explained shaking her head "They're basically mobs, they're not very strong individually but it numbers like this they can be troublesome. Alright, Erza, Natsu and Gray come with me we'll storm their headquarters and end this as quickly as possible."

"Wait I'm coming with you." Elfman yelled "A real man can't just sit back and let you guys take all the fun."

"Very well then climb aboard." Lucy stated as the Vimana lowered itself so everyone could board. "As I said these Phantom Troopers aren't that strong, just hold on until Jose is cdefeated and then they should vanish."

When they were aboard the Vimana shot off towards the damaged Phantom Lord headquarters. The other Fairy Tail wizards braced themselves as the Phantom Troopers closed in.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The Vimana entered the robot through the gap where the Jupiter cannon used to be.

"Alright we're finally here." Natsu yelled with joy as he leapt from the Vimana.

"Yes and this is far as you go." The voice belonged to a young man with long, two-toned hair of black and white that was tied up in a Japanese-style top knot on the back of his head.

The black portion of his hair overlaying the front and left side of his head, while the smaller white portion concentrated on the left, with the top knot also having the two separate colours correspondingly. On his face, the man had a simple marking consisting of three horizontal black bars passing across the ridge of his nose and both cheeks in a linear formation, with the one in the middle being the longest.

"Who the hell are you?" Natsu demanded igniting his fist only for it to suddenly punch him in the face.

"I am Totomaru of the element four and-GAH!" The fire user was suddenly cut off as a war hammer slammed into his face and sent him into a wall knocking him unconscious.

"I don't have time for this." Lucy sighed returning the hammer to her gate "Natsu, go find the Iron Dragon Slayer, the rest of you will seek out the other members of the element four, I will take on Jose, am I clear?"

"Right." Gray, Natsu and Elfman said in unison before running off in separate directions.

Lucy and Erza both began walking to the stairs to get as high as possible, doubtless that Jose would be waiting at the top.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

As the duo of Lucy and Erza pushed through a door after many sets of stairs they could hear the sounds of battle and feel the ground shaking. Undoubtedly Natsu and the others had started their own battles.

The Room they found themselves in looked like an entrance hall with a large stair case that lead further into the Phantom Lord HQ.

"Well, well who would have thought Lucy Heartfillia would come to me of her free will." Jose said. "I knew that this war would be fun, but never did I think that it would be this entertaining. You annihilated the Jupiter cannon, knocked out one of element four with a single blow and even managed to bring my magic giant to its knees. Your father wasn't exaggerating when he said you were powerful."

"You have no idea what you're dealing with Jose." Lucy replied dismissively "But first why don't tell your lackey to stop hiding."

With those words, Aria appeared next to Jose, apparently having been invisible.

"So he can use his Airspace magic to conceal his presence." Lucy noted "I suppose that explains how he got the drop on Makarov."

"So you're the one who hurt our master," Erza stated as Aria stepped forward.

"So you're the great Erza Scarlet," Aria stated. "How unfortunate for you. Seems the brilliant Titania will lose her head alongside Lucy Heartfillia."

"Our master suffered greatly by your hands. I will avenge him," Erza growled.

"Now that I'm facing a strong opponent, maybe it's time I start taking this seriously." Aria reached up and removed the bandages around his eyes with a single motion. They snapped open to reveal magenta irises with an X through them.

"Now Titania," Aria said walking towards Erza. "Step into Zero, the Air Space of Death! It consumes the lives of all who dare to enter!" A large windstorm suddenly whipped up as Aria's magic began to flow.

"A spell that consumes life?" Erza stated, summoning a sword. "Tell me: How can you do this? How can you take lives so easily? You scoundrel!"

"It'd be more fun to show you!" Aria replied, his eyes glowing a deep purple.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"I suppose we get started shouldn't we? Lucy asked summoning a golden key from the Gate of Babylon.

"By all means dear summon your Celestials Spirits, they are no match for me."

"We'll see about that, Open Gate of Golden Bull, Taurus!" Lucy incanted as the bull spirit appeared.

"Hello again Ms Lucy." Taurus greeted as he caught a battle-axe from the Gate of Babylon. "Oh would you like me to show you my mooooves?"

"Perhaps under normal circumstances you might defeat Taurus but the battle-axe I've given him multiplies his strength, speed and skill by many times." Lucy stated with a smirk. "Right now, only the Celestial Spirit King is stronger."

"Even if that's the case it won't stop me from taking you." Jose stated charging a spell at his hands and sending two dark ghostly figures at them.

"Taurus counter." The bull spirit obeyed with great speed easily destroyed the projectiles.

"You'll have to do better than that, Jose." Lucy smirked as her golden armour materialised on her body.

"That was just a taste of my power!" Jose sent more ghosts at them five this time.

Taurus destroyed three but two got past him, Lucy quickly destroyed them using weapons from the Gate of Babylon.

"Minerva told me all about you Heroic Spirits and your Noble Phantasms, I've always wanted to test myself against one of you." Jose said with a smirk "I heard that God Serena has spear which when its name is called will strike the heart without fail. Defeating a legendary hero will be quite the feather in my cap."

Lucy's response was to open three more portals above Jose and fire the swords down at him. The wizard Saint dodged at the last moment causing the swords to crash through the floor and smash into something below. An explosion shook the building again and the sound of a fire breaking out could be heard.

"I'M ALL FIRED UP AGAIN!" Natsu's voice bellow as the fire seemed to disappear.

"It sounds like the idiot is about to finish things up down there, I can't let him show me up." Lucy said "Very well, if it's a battle against a hero you want I'll give it to you, but be warned I'm not called the King of Heroes for nothing."

"King of Heroes? Even better the glory o defeating you will truly b immense." Jose stated charging another spell.

"Don't get cocky, Mongrel." Lucy told him as she and Taurus prepared to continue.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Meanwhile Erza was not doing as well as Lucy, she had been forced to back off due Aria using Airspace Zero as a shield while attacking with Zetsu.

' _Damn it, I can't get close with that dangerous Zero Airspace in the way._ ' Erza thought as she avoided another volley of Zetsu.

"That's right Erza Scarlet, Tremble down to your soul. Sink into despair! Superior skill can only defeat so many before being completely overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of my Zetsu." Aria taunted unknowingly emulating the words spoken by Heroic Spirit in another time and place.

Erza gasped as memories invaded her unbidden once again, over Aria was now imposed the image of huge, rolling eyes and oily, glistening cheeks. Adorned with luxurious robe of ancient design; sanguineous scarlet patterns adorned the pitch-black fabric. He donned an inky black cassock, and an evil aura reeled about it. Also, the patterns dyed crimson red on the cloth was as if stained with blood. A spellbook bound in human flesh in his right hand and insane grin on his face.

'This…..can't be.' Erza thought fearfully as the memories of the evil servant took hold. 'Caster'

Images of children exploding and turning to evil starfish like monsters under the evil servants command invaded where the Airspace Zero was.

"You." Erza growled gripping her sword tightly as anger at the memory filled her "You won't get away with this you bastard!" Air began to circulate around her sword forming a sheath which rendered it invisible.

'Wind magic and she's using it to make her sword invisible?' Aria thought, surprised at the sight 'No matter I will end this now."

"STRIKE AIR!" Erza roared causing the sheath of wind surrounding her sword to be released from the invisible barrier's bounds, bellowing forth like a savage dragon's roar.

"No what is this-AAAAGGGHHHH!" Aria screamed as the released invisible air slammed into him and smashed him through the back wall sending Phantom Wizard flying.

"It's over." Erza gasped falling to her knees overwhelmed by the intruding memories, as the battle between Lucy and Jose raged on she gripped her head and struggled to suppress them once more.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Well that didn't take long." Lucy said internally smirking as she now had proof of Erza's identity and vowed to pursue her no matter how long it took to win her over.

"Aria may be beaten but don't think this is OVER!" Jose yelled as he sent more blasts at Lucy and Taurus who easily deflected them.

"Taurus let's try that move we were working on." Lucy commanded.

"Alright Ms Lucy here I Goooooo!" Taurus began charging at Jose.

"No you don't." Jose yelled quickly tried using more ghosts to blasts the Celestial Spirit unfortunately more weapons from the Gate of Babylon neutralised the ghosts. "Stay ba-ack!" Jose was caught off guard, as instead of attacking him Taurus jumped on Jose' head and leapt out of the hole Erza and made in the wall and fell from sight.

"Haha It looks like your spirit has run off on you little girl." Jose boasted cackling madly.

"Give it minute." Lucy stated the smirk never leaving her face.

"It's time for lights out DEAD WAVE!" Jose gathered dark energy in his hand and sent a wave of ghosts rushing towards Lucy, the blast split the very ground as it rushed towards her, it was blocked however by a series of golden discs that float in the air which intercepted the attack.

"Tick-tock Jose time's running out." Lucy taunted causing the Wizard Saint become even more infuriated.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After consuming the fire made by the weapons impacting from above Natsu felt his energy return and even though Gajeel was using his Iron Dragon Scale's he was being pushed back by the Fire Dragon Slayer.

"Alright Salamander eat this-ACK!" Gajeel was caught off guard as Taurus suddenly came in through a hole in the wall and used his head as a springboard smashing up through the ceiling.

"Hey bull-man this my fight." Natsu yelled as Taurus kept going up. "Ah forget it, Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu socked Gajeel in the face deciding to simply keep fighting the other dragon slayer.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Those pretty little discs can't shield you forever!" Jose yelled as his blasts kept getting intercepted by the discs shielding Lucy.

"They don't have to; they just have to protect me long enough for this to happen." Lucy grinned.

"For WhAAAGH!" Jose was interrupted as Taurus suddenly burst through the floor and slashed his back causing him to stumble forwards.

"Alright Taurus time for the grand finale finish it!" Lucy commanded.

"Will doooo!" Taurus cried turning the battle-axe and slamming the haft into Jose's back.

With all his might the bull spirit drove Jose through the floor and as gravity began helping they kept crashing through more floors with greater and greater speed until finally with an almighty crash they hit the ground floor.

"Great Work Taurus!" Lucy praised the spirit as she peered down through the holes at him.

"Anytime Ms Lucy" Taurus smiled before returning to Celestial Spirit World.

"Holy crap." "Now this is the work of a real man."

Lucy looked down to see Elfman and Gray who had apparently wrapped their fights up. Gajeel abruptly flew past her vision and crashed into a pillar, Natsu began roaring victoriously. With that the war with Phantom Lord ended.

 


	13. The King of the Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only. ******  
> [-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Phantom Lord is to be disbanded and Jose to be stripped of his title as one of the Wizard Saints, pretty much what I expected." Makarov said sitting out the magic council's Fiore branch with Yajima. "But then Fairy Tail was found innocent which came as a bit of a surprise to me."

"I spoke in defence of your character Maki, I hope you appreciate that." Yajima said to the other man.

"You know that I'm grateful for the support Yaj." Makarov said "Why don't you stop by the guild once it's been repaired and I'll treat you to some ramen."

"I could go for a Fairy ramen with twelve slices of roasted pork." Yajima told him.

"That's kinda pushing it don't you think?"

"Do you know what the penalty is for violating the fourth clause of your guild charter?" Yajima asked

"Alright I get the point you can have twenty slices better yet make it thirty!" Makarov yelled annoyed at Yajima's extortion.

"Twelve pork slices will be fine." Yajima informed him smugly before getting serious. "Say Maki, what do you think?"

"About what?"

"About all these strange wizards popping up with their Noble Phantasms, are they called?" Yajima asked "First there was Gildarts, then Erza, Mystogan, Lucy Heartfillia, God Serena and his spear which never misses the heart, Minerva Orland and her…..singing and a person from Cait Shelter are the ones we know of. They have memories of past lives and power abilities that dwarf other wizards in this world."

"We live in an interesting era; the winds of change are blowing strong." Makarov sighed looking up at the clouds.

"There are some on the council who suspect that these people are the reason Alvarez invaded when it did." Yajima stated.

"Yeah I heard, the council wasn't expecting the invasion to happen until X781 but they invaded in early X777 instead and caught the council with its pants down." Makarov chuckled. "The story is that the Council used Etherion to wipe out the invaders right?"

"That is the official story, but I'm sure you know that it's a lie that the Council of the time used to save face." Yajima told him.

"Wouldn't that information be classified then?" Makarov asked "You could get into trouble for sharing this with me."

"I'm close to retiring myself anyway, besides its relevant to this discussion." Yajima waved him off "So you heard that at the same year just after the invasion Warrod retired from the Wizards Saints yes?"

"Yeah I heard, he's always was a strange one." Makarov said.

"Well during the invasion in reality the entire invasion force including one of the Spriggan Twelve who was present were wiped out by one person, and their Noble Phantasm." Yajima said. "That person was made a Wizard Saint but the other three Gods of Ishgar agreed with the person to keep their identity a secret. So they cut a deal with the council, fire Etherion and take credit for destroying the army and save face, in return they make the person a Wizard Saint without ever knowing their identity. Since then attempts have been made by Council's since and even to this day to discover the mysterious Saints identity but all have failed, only the three Gods of Ishgar plus Warrod know and they aren't going to share anytime soon, they just say 'you'll know their identity when the time is right.'"

"I bet that's gotten Michello and Org's panties in a knot."

"Indeed, the only clue the Council believes they have is a report from a Rune Knight who was a recruit at the time." Yajima explained "As he approached the beach where the invasion was happening Etherion struck and as it did the recruit shielded his eyes, but as he did so he swears under oath and even truth detection magic that he saw someone with long hair flying away from the blast on a Pegasus."

"Get outta here." Makarov said with disbelief.

"It's true, and there have been sightings of a Pegasus flying through the skies in years since, the Council has tried tracking it but have never been able too, it's frustrating because they think that if they find the Pegasus rider they'll find the final Wizard Saint."

"Hang on, you've been saying this like you don't believe so."

"It seems too easy if you ask me." Yajima said "Why would the Four Gods of Ishgar go to these lengths to conceal the identity of Warrods replacement and just let a Rune Knight's testimony slip through. Why wouldn't they erase his memories beforehand? Maybe I'm just overthinking it but it seems too simple to me."

"Maybe…." Makarov drifted off into thought.

"Listen on another subject, I think it's time for you to reign it in. We're just not as young as we used to be you know." Yajima sighed wistfully. "Don't tell me that you've forgotten."

"About what?"

"What happened to our old pal."

"Who Rob? Course not."

"Those were the good old days, the team of you, me, Rob and Porlyusica. We were all just a bunch of reckless fools but we lived every day to the fullest."

"We sure did."

"Fairy Tail was a great place to be until Rob left us." Yajima reminisced. "With that shield of his no one ever scratched him."

"What did he call it again? Lord Camelot I think was its name." Makarov said remembering the name of the shield. "One day he went charging off, saying that he had to rescue his king, before we could even ask what he meant he was already gone and nobody was ever able to find him. To this day we still don't know where the Tower is, Erza refuses to speak about it."

"I've never mentioned him to the council, I never saw the point, no reason to reopen old wounds after all."

"Erza managed to talk about him a couple times, sharing what he was like in his later years." Makarov told Yajima. "But I think his death wounded her deeply, when she stumbled to Fairy Tail, she was still in tears, she babbled a lot and something about throwing away a useless scabbard."

"I brought this up because there's been increasing talk that Fairy Tail's antics have been getting out of hand lately." Yajima said "Michello and Org have been making noise in the Council about wanting to disband the guild, frankly if it weren't for Lady Kin announcing her support for Fairy Tail then they might have gotten traction. That woman has a lot of political weight to throw around, but still the stress is going to get to you, you won't do anyone any good if you're dead. Seriously, you've got to step down soon, you're not a kid anymore."

Makarov looked at Yajima and sighed wistfully,

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

A couple of weeks had passed since the guild war between Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail. It had been announced earlier to the public that Phantom Lord was to disband immediately which honestly came as no surprise to the former members of Phantom themselves.

Totomaru and Aria both of whom were recovering from their wounds (Although Aria's were more serious hence why he was still covered in bandages) had found themselves summoned to an immense palace isolated from towns and villages. It was larger and grander than even the palace of the king of Fiore in Crocus.

"You must be Totomaru and Aria from Phantom Lord am I right?" a man asked them holding a silver platter which with a cover. "I'm Kageyama, I serve Lady Kin."

"Lady Kin, so it's true the mysterious wealthy woman did summon us." Aria said with awe.

"I gotta ask…. what's with the monkey suit?" Totomaru asked pointing at the literal monkey costume Kageyama was dressed in.

"The Lady though it would be funny if I greeted you dressed like this." Kageyama replied sweatdropping at having the embarrassing costume pointed out.

"But isn't this humiliating?" Totomaru asked.

"Of course it is, but what I get in return for serving Lady Kin, is more than enough for me to endure a little humiliation like this." Kageyama replied with a sigh before expanding a shadow beneath their feet. "Come on, the Lady doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Before the two could even cry out they were swallowed up by the shadow and transported along with Kageyama.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The shadow released the Wizards, they found themselves in an immense throne room with a beautifully decorated wall with carvings, mosaics and tapestries on it while the other lead directly to an outside view with very nice looking columns.

Directly at the back of the room, elevated by several stairs, was a large golden throne. Upon it sat a woman in a flowing white dress whose face was obscured by the sun.

"My Lady, the two wizards from Phantom Lord who wished to see are here." Kageyama stated bowing at the woman on the throne.

"Is this really her, Lady Kin? The wealthiest and one of the most powerful people on the continent?" Totomaru asked.

"No, not in person." Aria stated examining the woman through his blindfold. "She is suing thought projection, but something is strange about it."

"What do you mean?"

"The Thought projections magical energy signature is no different from the Ethernano in the air around us." Aria said "She is a master at concealing herself, discerning her identity is most likely impossible."

"I have a proposal for the two of you." Lady Kin stated imperiously "I find myself in need of Wizards, agree to enter into a contract with me and serve only me for the rest of your days."

"The rest of our lives?" Totomaru stammered "But what would we get out this?"

Kageyama stepped before the two and removed the cover from the silver platter. The two wizards gasped at what they saw. A pair of tomes, both rather old but extremely rare, less five existed of these tomes. One was of air magic and the other of fire.

"If you agree to serve and obey me, then you will never want for anything ever again." Lady Kin told them. "Books and tomes as rare as this are easy for me to acquire, with the techniques of the magic tomes I have gathered you will become strong, you may do whatever you wish in your spare tine but I expect you not to go rusty, so keep doing jobs to stay in shape, I have no use for fools who can't fight because they became lazy."

Kageyama covered up the books again and took a step aside.

"What if we decline? Hypothetically of course." Aria asked.

"Well then, hypothetically I'd Kageyama would transport the two of you out of here and into a ravine somewhere and you never see this opportunity again." Lady Kin said with visible smile. "If you accept hold out your right hands towards me to receive my mark."

Aria and Totomaru looked at each other, without a second's hesitation they both held out their right hands. A small smile crossed Lady Kin's face as a burning sensation suddenly blossomed in the offered hands. Both wizards fell to their knees grasping the hands which felt like a hot knife was carving into them.

Finally, the pain subsided and both wizards opened their eyes to see a red mark carved into the back of their hands in the shape of a crown.

"Excellent, you have chosen wisely and shall be rewarded for it." Lady Kin stated "You have both taken the first step to the opportunity of a lifetime. Kageyama show them to the library, I have other matters to attend to."

With that Lady Kin's thought projection vanished leaving the three wizards alone.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

A few days later at the bar which was the first thing standing while the rest of the guild hall was still under construction Mira was examining a six-year-old little girl with blond hair and crimson coloured eyes who was sitting on a barstool. She was wearing a simple blue sundress, with sneakers.

"Hey Lucy, I was wondering why are you still young like that?" Mirajane asked "Shouldn't the potion have worn off by now?"

"Well, to be honest I could change back whenever I want, but I feel more carefree like this." Lucy replied with a smile "I need this after having to deal with my idiot of a father." Lucy thought back to how she had returned to his estate dealt with him by clocking him on the head and demanding to know what he wanted.

Apparently the fuss was that he needed her help dealing with financial issue's, so she'd hired him an assistant who would keep him from making bad deals squandering the wealth of the family he'd accumulated. She did ask him why he went to the trouble of hiring a magic guild to retrieve her when he could have just sent a message. Apparently his response was he wanted them to be an honour guard for her as she came back thinking she'd like it. The sad thing was he wasn't lying and really believed it, so after finding an assistant for him she'd visited her mother's grave and left.

Things seemed to calm down after that, although a few days ago Erza was having trouble motivating the others to work faster in rebuilding the guild hall, which was to have three floors instead of two.

_[Flashback]_

" _Come on everyone we need to move faster or well never have the first floor completed on schedule." Erza barked out at the others who had quite quickly lost their motivation._

" _Gives us a break Erza." Wakaba complained._

" _Yeah we've been working like this for days." Macao agreed. "We barely have any money to pay for food and stuff."_

" _Yeah so lay off." Alzack griped._

_Erza growled with annoyance, yet it seemed not even fear of her could get them going._

" _Dear me, Erza my dear you really do know nothing about motivating people." Lucy teased from her seat on a pile of lumber._

" _I suppose you could do better then?" Erza yelled with annoyance._

" _Naturally." Lucy smirked before standing up and doing an acrobatic leap causing her to land at the top of the skeleton for the new guild hall. "Attention everyone, listen to me."_

_She had everyone's attention, they were wary but listening._

" _Four score and three seconds ago I had a dream."_

" _This should be good." Gray commented._

" _A dream of a grand guild hall, even better than before. So help us by working harder and I shall add a fourth floor, and PURCHASE ENOUGH TOP QUALITY JACUZZI'S FOR EVERYBODY!"_

" _They'll never go for…" Erza cut off as the whole guild suddenly began to cheering loud enough to slight case the skeleton and foundations to tremble. "What!? She not only extended how long they had to work but got them to work faster and harder by offering Jacuzzi's?!"_

_Seeing everyone work harder and faster Erza felt a little jealous at being outdone and decided a revenge prank was in order. She withdrew a small, translucent bottle with a lustrous, beautifully-ornamented design made of an unknown material resembling china or crystal, inside it was a clear liquid._

_This was the potion of youth which she had borrowed from Lucy's mansion a little while back out of curiosity. To be fair, Lucy had left it lying out with a label saying potion of youth. After pouring some of the potion into a drink Erza had a pretty easy time getting Lucy to drink it._

" _Oh Lucy, would care to try this drink I made?" Erza asked with the sweetest tone she could muster._

_Normally you'd think Lucy would be suspicious but, she knew who Erza was in her past life and thusly couldn't help being blinded by infatuation._

" _But of course." Lucy replied taking the drink from her and chugging it down with a smile._

_All of a sudden a cloud of smoke erupted around Lucy, when it cleared, in her place was a much younger looking version of her she looked to be about six years of age._

" _Hey, you tricked me, no fair." Lucy whined stomping her foot childishly._

" _Wow, doesn't just look like a kid she acts like one too." Alzack said sweatdropping._

" _Didn't expect Erza of all people to pull a dirty trick like that." Bisca agreed._

" _There that should keep you out of the way." Erza said with a victorious smirk as the potion bottle dissolved into golden sparkles and returned to the Gate of Babylon._

" _You're a jerk, you…you, meanie face!" Lucy sniffed glaring angrily Erza with tears in the corners of her eyes._

" _Erza!" Mirajane suddenly interrupted with a scolding tone, she promptly lifted Lucy up and held her close with the girls face looking over her shoulder. "Even if you didn't like the way she was acting she's just a child right now, you can't be mean to children."_

" _But she's not even really a child it's just a potion." Erza protested._

" _Even so, right now she's a child, no more strawberry shortcake for you today." Mira said turning around and taking Lucy with her to bar._

_Erza's jaw went slack as she heard Mira's punishment, she whimpered slightly at the thought of being deprived of her favourite treat, she looked up and thought about apologising to Lucy._

_However, upon looking she was convinced that the little girl still retained her adult knowledge, she saw Lucy sticking her tongue out at the her, while that wouldn't confirm anything the fact that Lucy was using her free hand which was out of Mira's sight to make a rude gesture at Erza definitely confirmed it._

" _Mira can't you see the little brat is playing you?!" Erza cried as the other members of Fairy Tail chose to remain silent lest Mira punish them as well._

" _Erza, no more cake tomorrow either!" Mira declared causing Erza to sink deeper into despair, which quickly turned into anger upon seeing Lucy silently snickering at her._

_[Flashback end]_

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After a week passed, several days ago Mira had made the announcement of the guild being able to take jobs again. Lucy and the rest of Team Natsu had gone on a job to Lupinus to wipe out a cult but the other three had wound up destroying half the town in the process of completing the job.

As such due to the reward being cut several to pay for the damages the team had taken another job to beat up a bunch of bandits near Hosenka village, a spa town. A decent soak in the spa's later Lucy decided to leave the three morons alone to their pillow fight.

While walking alone with Plue and Happy they'd been jumped by a pair of wizards, however before Lucy could unleash on them Loke had shown up and knocked to two out. Apparently they were rogue wizards who ambushed women (and apparently children now if the attack on her was any idea) who walked alone in the town.

After turning the two in Lucy persuaded Loke to go with her to the world renowned restaurant Super Express.

"I already know you're the Celestial Spirit Leo the Lion." Lucy stated after a moment of silence which had settled in after finishing her meal, this caused Loke to gasp in surprise. "I have a Noble Phantasm that gives me super high level clairvoyance, I used it to get some basic information on you, it told me you were a Celestial Spirit and that you're Leo the Lion, I turned it off after learning that. You can relax, I have no intention of trying to force you to be my spirit, whatever your problem is with Celestial Wizards that bit is safe, I don't like using Sha Nagba Imuru too often, it ruins the surprise of everything." Lucy jumped off of her stool and sighed joyfully after having eaten the noodles that the large fore headed chef made. "Well, I'll see ya around."

"Wait" Loke grabbed her arm stopping her in her tracks.

"What is it?" Loke the abruptly grabbed Lucy into a hug.

"The truth is…..I don't have long to live." Loke confessed.

For Lucy the pieces suddenly fell into place as this information clicked. She could see that Loke was about to say something else, something stupid so she cut him off.

"Hey Loke."

"Yes?"

"You know….you look like a real perv, hugging a little girl like this."

"Wait….what?!" Loke was naturally startled by the accusation, and realised that Lucy indeed looked only six years old and potion or no, it didn't look good.

"It's ok, I can understand your feelings and I'll return them when I'm grown up." Lucy said in a deliberately loud voice causing Loke to sweat "So wait for me ok?!"

Despite her apparently infatuated words, Loke saw the mischievous glint in her eyes as she ran out.

"Wait!" Loke was about to give chase before a terrible misunderstand took place. However, he was stopped by an ominous aura from behind him. Reluctantly looking Loke saw the chef looked pissed, and was wielding a frying pan even larger than some of Erza's luggage. "Now Hold on, this is just a misunderstanding she's not really-"

*CLANG*

Loke's protestations of innocence were silenced as the chef smashed him on the head with the frying pan.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The next day Loke formerly known as Leo the Lion had put his affairs in order, he'd quit Fairy Tail and broken up with all the girls he'd dated, it was better for them to hate him rather than mourn him anyway especially after he'd caused Karen's death.

He had a feeling that Fairy Tail would be looking for him, but even if they found where he was it would be too tale, he'd have faded away by then. It was a shame to leave all the good friends he'd made behind, hopefully they'd get over him quickly.

"interesting so this is Karen Lilica's grave." A familiar voice said.

Loke whipped around to see Lucy in her adult form standing there glancing at the waterfall which served as backdrop to the ledge where Karen's grave was located.

"I shouldn't be surprised you found me." Loke sighed.

"People tend to keep track of the Golden Gate keys." Lucy said "It wasn't hard to tell that Karen Lilica was the last holder of the Lion Key. After that I got nosy and used Sha Nagba Imuru to see what kind of wizard she was. Admittedly she was decently skilled, but as far as her treatment of Celestial Spirits goes she was nothing but a mongrel. I saw everything, what she did to Aries, and how you tried to protect her by staying in this world to force Karen to break the contract. Anyone who treats Celestial Spirits in such horrible way has no right to call themselves a Celestial Wizard."

"Look I appreciate the sentiment but I've come to terms with it, I've been here for three years now."

"Staying in the human world saps Celestial Spirits life force eventually they fade away if they stay for too long, but three years is impressive frankly I didn't think one was possible." Lucy said impressed "You must have a strong will to hold on this long."

"Pretty amazing right? But I don't have the strength to keep it up, because I broke a fundamental law that applies to Wizard and Spirit I was banished form the Celestial World for eternity." Loke said looking back at Karen's grave. "Even if I was trying to protect Aries, I still caused my key holders death and I have to face the punishment for that."

Loke's scrunched up in pain and he fell to the ground, his body began flickering in an out of existence, every single part of his body was starting fade, the flickering was becoming quicker with each passing second.

"Before I go I wanna thank you." Loke said weakly "Seeing you with Aquarius, Taurus and the others restored my faith in Celestial Wizards."

"Hold on, this isn't over yet."

"Please tell everyone in Fairy Tail I said goodbye." Loke requested as he became weaker and weaker.

"Damn it, when I say hold on I mean hold on." Lucy grasped both of Loke's arms and began focusing, she could feel Loke's connection to it, despite being weak it was there, she began sending a flood of magic energy through the link at the Gate. "Now Open Gate of the Lion!"

"Lucy it's not gonna open for you, as far they're concerned I'm responsible for Karen's death they're not gonna let me go back."

"They will, because I won't leave them choice." Lucy cried as the golden magic energy swirled around them like a hurricane disturbing the water coming down the falls. "I don't need to force the Gate open, there a way to save you. I just need his attention."

With that Lucy send an enormous blast fo energy thrugh the connection where it impacted the Gate of the Lion.

In the next second, the entire world went quiet. Suddenly a shockwave rippled through the earth. Lucy smirked knowing she'd gotten what she wanted. The stars themselves started rotating around a single unmoving star in the centre of the sky.

Water from the falls which had frozen in mid-air swirled into a massive pillar before dissipating, when the water was gone, a massive armoured figure with a ethereal glow stood in in its place. The figure had light, oversized mustache, long enough to diagonally reach his upper torso almost extending past his shoulders, with massive and extremely scruffy ends; more facial hair is found in the form of some stubble located on his chin. His blank, pupil-less eyes were outlined by a deep shade, and he has a slight hint of wrinkles on his face.

"I-Impossible..." Loke muttered. "It's him... the Celestial Spirit King! W-What the heck is he doing here?!

**"Hello, my old friend."** The Spirit king spoke, his voice was deep. **"As you well know, both wizards and spirits are bound by Celestial Law, and taking the life of a key holder is forbidden under any circumstance! Although not by your hand, you are still responsible for the death of your Keyholder, Leo the Lion! Therefore, you have been banished from the Celestial world for eternity!"**

"I'm aware of that, which is why I got your attention." Lucy said summoning the Golden keys of Aquarius, Cancer, Sagittarius, Virgo and Taurus and levitating them just above her head. "According to Celestial Law, a wizard with a contract with two or more Golden Zodiac Keys may challenge the Spirit King for any boon as long as they wager the key and the contract with it, and as long as the conditions are met the Spirit King cannot refuse a challenge."

"Hold on Lucy just wait a moment-HEY!" Loke's objection as cut off as he enveloped in a golden sphere by the Spirit King.

" **The sphere will give Leo the Lion a reprieve from vanishing, In accordance with Celestial Law I shall honour this challenge, so which key do you wager human girl?"** The Celestial Spirit King asked.

"I wager the Key of the Waterbearer, Aquarius." Lucy declared confidently.

"Lucy no one has been able to defeat him in four hundred years." Loke yelled "Don't lose your contract with Aquarius for the likes of me!"

" **The challenge is accepted; we shall play a game to decide whether you shall attain your boon or not."** The Spirit King declared with a confident smile, he summoned a game board. **"The game we shall play is called Battleships in your world."**

He took out the boards, which had appropriately sized grids and ship pieces for both of them.

" **Be prepared, the last to defeat me was a Celestial Wizard named Anna, four centuries ago.** " The Spirit King said confidently.

"You shouldn't underestimate me." Lucy smirked as both players prepared their boards while Loke sweatdropped at the sight as the game began.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The game was surpisingly tense for a board game. Then again Loke knew the King was serious when it game to playing games. Nearly five minutes had passed and Loke got the impression that the game was nearing the end.

" **C6** " The King made his move.

"Miss." Lucy said causing the king to grumble and adjust his grid to show a miss. "J7"

"… **J7** "the King paused upon seeing the spot. " **A hit…..you have SUNK my battleship!** "

"Yes!" Lucy cheered.

" **You must play me again!** " The King declared.

"What?!"

" **Er….best two out of three?** "

They played a different game, chess this time

"Checkmate!" Lucy declared.

And again the Spirit King lost.

" **Best three out of five.** " The King really didn't want to go home a loser.

A game of Checkers, Shogi and Monopoly later the Spirit King had lost five games in a row.

"Best of seven?" Lucy guessed.

" **Damn right!** " The King nodded really determined to break this sudden losing streak.

A game of Trivial Pursuit and even Poker later and the Spirit King had officially lost seven games in a row.

" **I concede; the boon is yours.** " The Spirit King sighed hanging his head.

"Ah ah, not so fast, the law says that any rematches mean the King must wager an additional boon, so you owe me seven." Lucy said wagging her finger.

" **Damn it, I was hoping you didn't know about that.** " The King grumbled. " **Can I assume your first boon is for Leo the Lion's banishment to be lifted?** "

"You've got it." Lucy confirmed nodding her head.

" **Very well, in accordance with Celestial Law I shall grant this boon.** " The King declared " **Leo the Lion you are hereby granted return passage to Celestial World.** "

No sooner had the king said this then Loke's saw his key appear in his hand, and felt his gate allowing him passage once again.

The King promptly returned the Celestial World and time resumed again the waterfall flowing as it should.

"Well, my work here is done see ya." Lucy turned and began walking away.

"Wait, don't you want my key?" Loke asked.

"You can give it to me if you want, but ultimately my objective was to save you and I've done that." Lucy replied not looking back at him. "You're free to do as you please."

"In that case here." Loke ran up to her and placed his key in her hands. "I want you to have it, it's only right after you saved me and made me have faith in Celestial Wizards again."

"Alright, whatever." Lucy said accepting the key.

"Thank you for everything." Loke said as he returned to the Celestial Spirit world.

The situation now resolved Lucy examined the Key of the Lion as she made her way back home.


	14. The Tower of Heaven Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only. ******  
> [-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Team Natsu (though Lucy insisted they be called Team Lucy) were currently at Akane Resort, Fiore's most popular vacation spot. It had an amusement park and adjoining hotel which were rated first class. One visit to its white sand beach was said to make any visitor want to come back again and again. The resort overlooked the ocean water, which sparkled as far as the eye can see. Loki had given Lucy tickets after helping him return to the Celestial Spirit world and on a whim she had invited the team.

Ever since Phantom lord had been dealt with the team had noticed that her mood swings were occurring more often. She could be kind and sweet one day and arrogant and harsh the next, then a random pause would occur before the swing back or forth. But right now she had been kind and gentle ever since they arrived at the resort, and she was attempting to spend time alone with Erza. Attempting being the operative word, Natsu and Gray weren't making it easy.

_'I really had a great time today,'_ Erza thought to herself lying on a chair upon a balcony in her room which was bathed in the light of a golden sunset., _'It was wonderful.'_

_'Don't you see? There's no freedom in this world…'_

Erza abruptly woke after falling asleep in her deckchair, half rising out it from shock at the memory that decided to haunt her dream. Her gaze fell upon her wrists which used to be bound with shackles.

"Just a dream… I must have fallen asleep without realizing it…"

Getting up from her chair she walked back inside her hotel room and stopped before the mirror and froze. Reflected in the mirror, her left eye was green instead of brown, a shade of green only present in reflections of memories she had been surpassing for years. Indeed, the left side of her body was different from the right, the hair was blond and done in a familiar bun style, her clothing consisted of a blue dressed covered in silver-white and azure armour including gauntlet upon her left hand, greave on her left foot, half a breastplate, and long tassets shaped like a skirt which covered the dress.

"N-no." Erza shook her head but the image remained, she shut her eyes and fear crept in as images of a battlefield with littered with the corpses of knights and swords standing the in the ground near them forced its way into her mind's eye. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" Erza screamed punching the mirror and shattering it.

She took a few deep breaths and opened her eyes, the image in the mirror fragments which now littered the floor began fading away and back to normal, but in the green eye before it faded completely was a look of disappointment.

"You seem upset." Erza looked at the source of the voice to see Lucy standing in the doorway. "How about you forget whatever this is and come have some fun, Natsu and Gray are downstairs, playing games."

"That's right, there's a casino here isn't there, in that case," her armour began to glow as she reequipped into a dress. "So how do I look?"

"Worthy of a king, now come. There are games to be won." Lucy declared marching out of the room.

Erza glanced at herself in the mirror again, she knew those four where downstairs searching for her. She knew that Jellal would come of her eventually, instant she sensed them in the park she had bought an extremely powerful sleeping drug. It was the only hope she had of subduing Lucy. The memories that leaked through the strongest told her that the King of Heroes only cared about himself, even if in this new life she was gentler she couldn't risk Gilgamesh screwing with her plant to save Jellal. By the time Lucy woke up she would already be on her way back to the tower.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Seventeen come on!" Natsu cried joyfully

"Don't be mean seventeen!" Happy cheered.

The numbers flashed and blinked and just as it ticked to seventeen it skipped over.

"Waah!" groaned Natsu and Happy, clearing enraged with the machine.

"What's the big idea!" Natsu yelled slamming his fists on the buttons.

"Curse you seventeen." Happy shouted shaking his paw in the air.

"Sir please don't hit the machine." One of the staff members pleaded coming over,

"But it acted like it was going to give me my number!" Natsu whined "It's not fair!"

"No fair!" Happy mimicked.

"Uh, crying won't help sir…"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Man they are such sore losers," Gray muttered under his breath as everyone at his table watched the duo make a commotion.

"Gray, my darling?" Gray turned back to stare at a blushing blue-haired woman. "I'm Juvia, do you remember me?"

"Yeah you're that chick from Phantom!" Indeed, before him was Juvia Lockser of the Phantom Element Four.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Come back seventeen, I'll do anything!" Natsu yelled punching the control panel crying.

"Sir please don't do that!" the worked tried to reason with him.

"Cool your jets boy, either play nice like the rest of the grown-ups or hit the bricks, you get me?" Natsu and Happy looked to see a man whose whole body form consisted of geometrical shapes and resembled blocks. He had black hair, an oddly-shaped chin, and has thick lips. He wears a royal blue suit with a white collared shirt and red necktie. He also wears black, oval-shaped sunglasses, a boater hat, and a white scarf can be seen hanging loosely around his neck.

"Square?"

"Block head?"

"Now I'm gonna give you some friendly advice pal, in life you've got one of two paths to take." The strange man said,

Before Natsu could even blink blocks trapped his arms to the large glass dome behind him.

"Natsu!" Happy cried at seeing his friend in trouble

"You can either live a dandy life or die a jealous poser, see?"

His hand shifted into a gun and aimed it directly into Natsu's mouth

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Meanwhile at a poker table Erza and Lucy were playing a round, or at least they were until Lucy took a sip of a drink Erza gave her and fell asleep on the table. She felt slightly bad at taking advantage of Lucy's feelings in order to drug her, but she needed to do this. Though before the drug kicked and put a stop to her attempts at sweet talking her Lucy's tone had changed to one of arrogance. In that tone Lucy had said gave Erza the chills; ' _You really should stop repressing and start using your Noble Phantasm soon, we aren't the only Heroic Spirits who have reincarnated after all._ '

Setting down her cards she moved away from the table as the game resumed until a sudden tremor caused the table to shake.

'So their finally here.' Erza thought to herself as she felt a familiar presence approaching the table.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"I heard Phantom was disbanded, that must've been rough on you."

"Yes but now I'm a free wizard and I can join any guild I want."

"I see… and I take it you want to be a member of Fairy Tail, huh?" Gray asked rhetorically as she saw a golden necklace in the shape of the Fairy Tail logo around the water woman's neck."

"Oh yes! Very much so!"

"Well I don't know, after everything that just went down, I personally don't mind but I don't know what the master will say."

"I promise I'll do anything they ask!" Juvia's eyes began sparkling gleefully.

"If I were you I would be careful about making promises like that." Gray said with a chuckle.

"Gray Fullbuster?" Gray and Juvia turned around to see a tall and muscular young man, with his overly large arms and hands appearing even larger compared to his extremely thin legs. His mildly long dark hair possessed two prominent bangs curving outwards on the front, framing and partially covering the upper part of his face. He has a single dark eye and a wide, rectangular face, with a flat nose. His left eye was covered in a simple, dark eyepatch, held up by an extremely slim rope, with a thin scar emerging from under it and going down diagonally on his cheek. His massive jaw was obscured by a metal a skeletal jaw. The top of his head was covered in a light cloth wrapped around it, tied on the back, where a pair of long wrappings were left hanging over his neck, with another one hanging on the right of his face.

A dark magic circle suddenly appeared over his visible eye and the bar exploded.

"Juvia!" Gray, glaring at the large man who just attacked Juvia. "What do you think you're doing, buddy?"

"Where is Erza?" the man demanded.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Looks like todays my lucky day." Erza said smugly crossing her arms at seeing she had a straight.

"Dealer change." A voice Erza found familiar said.

"Erm, right." With that the Dealers changed.

"I've got a special game for you folks tonight." The Dealer said dealing out some new cards.

Erza looked unaffected as the card before her spelt out: DEATH.

"And while we're at it, what do you say we raise the stakes a bit higher _**sister**_?"

"Do you think that scares me Sho?" Erza asked raising an eyebrow.

"So you do remember me." Sho was a young man with blond hair, arrange in a wavy look with fringes hanging above his forehead and tan skin. He had somewhat dark beady eyes and a small 5-shaped tattoo can be located below his lower lip. He also had an earring with diamond ornaments attached on his left ear.

"I never forgot you or the others, I always intended to come back to the Tower of Heaven one day." Erza stated calmly.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Now where is she?" The man demanded of Gray.

"You think I'd tell you, huh?"

"I won't allow you to so much as lay a finger on my beloved! You'll have to go through me first." Juvia said quickly reforming in front of Gray.

"Juvia…"

"Erza needs your help right now, I fear she is in grave danger."

"You're right." Gray agreed.

"Ah, you've located her" The man put a finger to his head, clearly receiving a telepathic message. "Yes I see, so I should clean things up here. Understood."

Juvia and Gray were caught off guard as in an instant everything became pitch black.

"What happened to the lights?!"

"It's magic of the dark lineage. Dark Moment!"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Hey what gives? Who turned out the lights?" Natsu shouted now unable to see.

"I can't see!" Happy cried. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here! Wherever that is."

"Goodnight, boy," the Blockhead chuckled.

"Nuh-uh, no way!" Natsu growled

"NATSU!"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"A gun shot…" Erza suddenly shielded her eyes as the lights came back on. "What is going on? Where did he go?"

"I'm right here sister…"

Erza turned around to see Sho now behind her, he threw two handful of cards into the air, peoples voice echoed from them as they fluttered to the ground.

"Card Magic, this display supposed to impress me."

"How arrogant, you're not the only one with powers anymore."

"Meeoow."

Suddenly a strange orange rope, flew past them and was quickly sliced to pieces as Erza requipped one of her swords.

"Nice try Millianna." Erza said looked at her old cat obsessed friend.

"It's been a while, Erzy-werzy," Millianna grinned.

"I'm willing to bet that Jellal gave a warning to you and the others 'Whatever you do not try to fight the girl with long blonde hair, Erza is your only concern' Am I right?"

"How did you know that?" Sho demanded acting as though Erza had read his mind. "You act like you knew we were coming."

"Of course I knew you were here, I sensed you four the minute you set foot in this park." Erza told them. "I put Lucy to sleep, so that she wouldn't kill you when she found out you were planning to take me back to the Tower of Heaven. I know Jellal's been watching me, so he could prepare an ambush for you, I'm not an idiot."

"So what is she to you?" Sho asked pointing at Lucy who was still sleeping rather soundly despite the commotion.

"She's a friend." Erza replied.

"Meow, a friend huh?"

"We used to be friends of yours too, remember?" Sho said accusingly. "Good friends, we were very close… at least we were. Until you decided to betray us."

"Why don't you cut the dame a little slack pal." Blockhead said as he appeared beside Sho. "Keep those emotions in check and everything will be real dandy. Very nice, life on the outside, it's been good to you, huh doll?"

"Hello Wally." Erza greeted

"I've gone through some changes myself." Wally said. "Ol' Mad Dog Wally you grew up with has seen a lot since the old days. You see, I'm much smoother now."

"So you have magic as well."

" It's not that hard once you get the hand of it," The large man boomed as he appeared from nowhere. "Of course you already knew that, didn't you?"

"Simon…"

"I take you have boat, let's go." Erza sighed "I always intended to go back to the tower, like I said."

"Well that's just Dandy, it makes things much easier. Oh by the way." Wally said holding out Happy to Millianna. "I scored something for you."

"Aah! A kitty of my very own! He's such a cutie wootie!"

"That's enough!" Simon boomed loudly. "Tie Erza up."

"What about her?" Sho thumbed to the sleeping Lucy.

"Jellal ordered us to avoid a fight with her, and that is what we are going to do." Simon stated as Millianna conjured an orange tube restrained Erza's hands.

With that the five plus Happy all left the casino, leaving the rest of the team behind.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Lucy found herself within a familiar white void like space. The only other occupant was the golden armoured man opposite her, her male counterpart. Gilgamesh, or the part of her that the arrogant king. They were both part of the same soul that made up the existence called Gilgamesh.

He was the arrogant hero king. She was the person that Child Gilgamesh may have become if he had not become so arrogant and self-centred, and had taken to calling herself Lucy when confronting her other self like this, just so she could be less associated with him. How the two personalities existed at the same time was unclear, but nevertheless they did and they barely agreed on anything. Hence why the personality of their new life, Lucy appeared to swing back and forth. Neither of them knew why the two of them existed in the same body at the same time, but they had learnt to roll with it, even if they hardly agreed.

"What the hell was that?" Lucy demanded

"What are you babbling about?" Her male counterpart sighed.

"That crap about Saber's Noble Phantasm." Lucy elaborated still furious "I was on a roll, if you hadn't interrupted she could have been closer to being ours."

"It was necessary." Gilgamesh replied conceitedly. "More Heroic Spirit reincarnates are popping up, if she doesn't start embracing her heroic side soon she will be in trouble."

"Why couldn't you have saved it for later instead of when I was to seduce her!" Lucy yelled angrily. "I bet she drugged us because of you."

Gilgamesh was about to reply when both felt something, and a new voice intruded.

"Lucy, hey Lucy wake up." It was Gray.

"It looks like the Ice mongrel is trying to wake us up."

"We'll settle this later." Lucy said as they regained consciousness.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

At the Tower of Heaven, in the throne room in the very top. Jellal Fernandes sat in a throne, another robed man stood at the foot.

"Master Jellal, we've received word that the mission to retrieve Erza has been completed. They are returning as we speak."

The cloaked man smirked and continued resting his head upon his hand.

"I must ask, what are we to gain by capturing that traitor? Disposing of her would have been easy work for someone of your power."

"A rather pedestrian approach to solving the problem, in my opinion."

"Yes, Sir."

"However with the Tower of Heaven now complete allowing her to live would prove to be a thorny issue indeed. So the time has come, Erza Scarlett is the perfect sacrifice to ensure my dreams are made flesh."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Are you saying that it still exists?" Org demanded shocked. "But that's impossible!"

"About a decade ago construction began on the R-System, a system designed by a cult of black magic users."

"But we had all seven of those towers destroyed! There shouldn't even be any ruins left," Michello declared.

A large orb appeared in the middle of the chamber showing everyone on the Council the Tower.

"Evidently there was an eighth tower that we missed in the water near Caelum." Belno stated.

"How did we miss it? Is the structure close to completion?" Org inquired pressing for details.

"I'm afraid I don't know, our team mysteriously vanished after sending these images." Belno replied clueless.

"Well it looks finished to me…" Ultear commented.

"Why would they revive the R-System after all this time?" Michello wondered.

"The Tower of Heaven, it's not the R-System, it's the Tower of Heaven to be clear." Seigrain corrected.

"It makes no difference what it's called, it utilizes forbidden magic," Org growled with annoyance. "There would be chaos if word got out that it even existed."

"We'll have to find a way to subdue them, why not send in the military?" Belno suggested.

"That's not an option," Leiji said dismissed the suggestion.

"What do you mean?"

"We'd be putting out solders in danger because we don't know who we're dealing with." he explained. "According to our latest intelligence the black magic cult thought to be responsible for the R-System is no longer occupying the tower."

"They're not?" Michello said. "Just who is then?"

"It's a group of wizards, apparently lead by a man named Jellal," Leiji replied.

"Jellal?"

"But that's the name of your twin brother, right Seigrain?" Org asked.

"Yes unfortunately, that would be him." The blue haired man replied with a sad sigh.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Where the hell are we?" Gray demanded as he looked out to the ocean that surrounded them on all sides.

They had taken a boat after Lucy had woken up and were following Natsu's nose to the people who had taken Erza. Lucy had been unable to summon the Vimana due to the drug still being her system, it was pretty powerful and she risked sending them to the other side of the planet or crashing into the ocean.

"I don't know; we've been following Salamanders lead."

"MAN! We're relying on your sense of smell! Pull it together!" Gray complained as they turned to see Natsu suffering from his motion sickness again.

"How dare you disappoint my love with your childish actions!" Juvia scolded the motion sick dragon slayer.

"Geez, I can't believe how easily they were able to knock us out and kidnap Erza and Happy… we're pathetic." Gray grumbled.

"In our defence, they must have been pretty powerful wizards to beat one as strong as Erza." Juvia said trying to lighten Gray's mood.

"What?" Gray shouted became angry "They didn't beat her. Quit talking like you know her, because you don't!"

"Gray I have a headache from the drug and I swear if you don't shut up I will throw you off this ship." Lucy threatened glaring at the Ice Make wizard.

The glare was enough to silence him.

"I just got a weird feeling." Natsu said as he suddenly sat up.

"The birds are dying?" Lucy observed as the birds fell into the water floating dead upon its surface.

"Not the fish too." Gray gasped as fish were indeed floating belly up beside the birds.

"I've never seen anything like this." Juvia commented.

This is wreckage from a Fiore Naval Ship." Gray said looking at the flag of destroyed ship floating in the water amongst the debris.

"Hey what's that?" Natsu asked, pointing farther ahead of them at a large tower that stretched high into the sky.

"I'm guessing that's where they've taken Erza." Lucy commented.

"Hey now that I think about, it, the people who were trapped in those cards said something when I talked to them." Gray stated "Something about the Tower of Heaven."

"Hmmm….Tower of Heaven….that sounds familiar for some reason." Lucy commented trying to think through her still addled thoughts.

"I'll protect us; my Water Dome will keep us from being seen." Juvia said creating a dome of water to camouflage them from being seen as they approached.

"Adequate work I suppose." Lucy grumbled still trying to shake off the effects of the drug as she tried to recall where she'd heard about the Tower of Heaven.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Meanwhile Erza had been taken off the ship was at the doors of the Tower of Heaven.

"So you've completed the Tower." Erza said looking up at the spiralling tower.

"Indeed, we've been working on it since you left ten years ago." Simon stated cutting off Sho who was about to speak.

"It's amazing how much you've all changed in ten years." Erza commented as she was led back into the Tower she spent her childhood helping construct.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"I can't take it." Natsu complained as the rocking of the boat exasperated his motion sickness.

"We're almost there." Lucy said.

"That's it next time we take him somewhere we're knocking him out first." Gray stated with annoyance.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Erza found herself taken to a small cell, her hands tied above her head using Milliana's bindings.

"The Ceremony will take place later tonight. You'll be staying here until then." Sho told her.

_'So they really plan to activate the R system.'_ Erza thought.

"Jellal is giving you a special honour." Sho said "He's chosen you to be the sacrifice for the ceremony. I'm sad I won't ever get to see you again, but you're going to help us get to heaven."

"Oh you're trembling." Sho said looking at her bound hands. "Are you afraid of being sacrificed? Or does this cell bring back mem-"

"Enough Sho." Simon ordered stepping into the cell.

"What do you want Simon?" Sho demanded.

"I have special orders from Jellal to place this within Erza." Simon withdrew from his pocket a small lacrima sphere about the size of a pea.

"What is that lacrima for?" Sho asked backing off as Simon walked past him and close to Erza.

Simon's face got close to Erza's own and he touched the lacrima to her forehead.

" _Forgive me my king, but without your Noble Phantasm, you cannot defeat Jellal._ " Simon whispered to her quietly so Sho couldn't hear, she gasped at his words before the lacrima glowed and sank into her forehead as though it were water.

Simon stood back and merely watched her with an indifferent look on his face, though through her clenched eyes she could see the pain his actions brought him. Erza felt a pressure building inside of her head. It became too painful to bare and she let out a long and loud scream which echoed throughout the tower. "AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"W-whats happening to her?" Sho asked taken aback at the loud screams.

"It's the memory lacrima getting to work." Simon told him. "Normally she'd have such a high magic resistance that a simple lacrima like this wouldn't be enough. However, she's suppressed the memories of her past life for so long that mental barriers have formed keeping the powers, physical attributes and memories from the life locked away. Now those barriers are being torn down thanks to that lacrima, the pain is beyond any magic torture. Jellal deemed it a fitting way for her to suffer until it was time for the Ceremony." Simon began walk out of the cell and up the stairs to leave.

"Hey where are you going?" Sho yelled after him.

"I have other matter sot attend to, you are to stay here and make sure she doesn't get free." Simon replied not looking back. "If you can't stand the screaming then put on some earmuffs or something."

In a matter of seconds Simon vanished from sight, teleporting to another part of the tower. Sho walked back into the cell and watched Erza as she kept screaming in pain, sweat dripping from her forehead as old memories now flowed through her mind's eye unimpeded.

_On a hill of swords and corpses the knight opposite her fell as the spear Rhongomyniad was pierced through Mordreds chest. "Father" Mordred pleaded as the helm that concealed the traitorous knights face fell away. Looking identical to the King her blood soaked hands reached out to try and touch her. "...Father"_

She tried to shoved the memory down but the lacrima wouldn't let her. Another one forced its way into the fore.

_She was looking down from a balcony for the sake of appearances Guinevere was to be burnt at the stake. The execution had begun, the pyre was lit and the flames began to burn._

_Suddenly a knight in familiar black armour burst through the gates._

" _Stop Lancelot!" Two Knights barred his way, Gareth and Gaheris, but he easily cut them down._

"Is that magic energy?" Sho asked as he saw magic energy beginning to swirl around her body which was contorted in pain. "But Milliana's bindings should make that imposs-AGH!"

Sho was sent flying as Erza let out another scream and the magic power that had swirling around her body burst outwards tearing the cell apart and flinging him into the cell directly opposite the destroyed one Erza was in.

After the dust settled Erza felt her wrists where the bindings had been. The pain and memories temporarily subsided and exited the cell reequipping into her Heart Kruez armour.

"He's fine just unconscious." Erza said looking at Sho was now unconscious in the other cell but otherwise unharmed aside from a few bruises and burn marks from the blast.

She was suddenly struck by another jab of pain as more memories began emerging. "Damn it, with these blasted memories intruding now of all times I won't be at my best. But I still need to reach Jellal and stop him, when I free him of that spell there will be hell to pay for whoever cast it on him."

As she stumbled up the stairs had Erza seen her reflection, she'd be able to see that her brown left eye was now green, with the colour now bleeding into her artificial right eye.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Back at their meeting hall the Magic Council was in disarray over the knowledge that the R System still existed and were trying to figure out what to do about it.

"We must do something to stop Jellal!"

"We should gather information!"

"Dispatch the military!"

"You ignorant fools!" Seigrain yelled with annoyance.

"Seigrain!"

"How dare you."

"Only fools would send in the military and risk the lives of hundreds of innocent soldiers, I'm telling you it's far too dangerous." Seigrain stated.

"What do you propose we do?" Org asked sternly looking down on the wizard.

"This is a precarious situation." Seigrain said crossing his arms. "If we want to stop him we will have to completely destroy the Tower of Heaven, and there is only one way to do that… Etherion."

"Are you insane?" Org yelled.

"That's cross dimensional destruction magic!" Michello cried.

"We can't!" Belno objected with horror.

"Do you know how much devastation it would cause? That weapon has the ability to obliterate an entire nation."

"Etherion is an absolute last choice, it is more dangerous than the R-System itself!"

"Just hear me out!" Seigrain yelled cutting across them. "The satellite square can pinpoint a target anywhere in the region. If we focus it directly on the tower, we can cause less collateral damage and destroy the structure."

"I vote to fire." Ultear said raising her hand, agreeing with Seigrain.

"Not you too, have you gone mad?" Org asked despairingly.

"Three more in favour will give us the majority, but we can't let deliberations delay us. Time is of the essence! I urge you to vote with me, we cannot allow Jellal to activate the Tower of Heaven!"

"But along with destroying the Tower, an Etherion blast will no doubt kill your brother." Org stated softly.

"I realize that… however, it's a sacrifice that must be made."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Meanwhile back in his throne room atop the Tower Jellal watched as the Fairy Tail wizards decimated the guards who were protecting the passageway that they had reached by going underwater.

"Master why are you inviting them into the tower?" Vidaldus Taka asked as on the screen he saw the entrance open for the intruders.

"As I said before this is all one big game." Jellal answered tired of Vidaldus questioning. "They were lucky enough to clear the first stage but they still have a ways to go. I'm just trying to make things interesting."

"But shouldn't we concentrate on the ceremony?" Vidaldus pressed "It's only a matter of time before the Magic Council catches onto our plans."

"Now Vidaldus how many times have I told you not to worry about them." Jellal said with a dark smirk "The Magic Council only wishes they had the power to stop me."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"I vote yes." Leiji stated reluctantly as he shakily raised his hand, voting to fire Etherion.

"Leiji not you too." Org cried

"There's no other choice." Leiji answered clearly still shaken over his choice.

"Two more votes are needed. Please trust me on this." Seigrain pleaded trying to sway his fellow councillors.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]


	15. The Tower of Heaven Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.**

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After storming the tower, the team had found a dining area and was now sat at a large table filled with food. While they had been entering they heard a loud blast like an explosion, but decided to leave it for later. Right now Gray, and Natsu were stuffing their faces with food while Juvia was eating at a slower pace, Lucy had pulled out a special wine from her treasury that was now cleaning out the rest of the drug from her system.

"The door that welcomed us in, was controlled by a magic user…" Juvia said.

"So naturally they know we're here." Lucy sighed closing her eyes as mind became clearer.

"You think they're trying to provoke us?" Gray asked through a bread roll.

"Perhaps." Lucy said before opening her eyes and looking towards the ceiling. "I am certain of one thing though, there is a Heroic Spirit reincarnate at the top of this tower. Now that I know to look for them it's easier to sense them when they're nearby, I bet he can feel my presence as well."

"A heroic spirit? Then you are like Minerva, you possess a Noble Phantasm." Juvia stated.

"I am the original hero, all others that come after me are nothing but imitations." Lucy clarified "But you are correct, she is a reincarnate like myself."

"I see, then we had best leave battling him to Lucy." Juvia said with a resigned look.

"What? But I want a shot at him!" Natsu cried lightning a fist on fire.

"You do not understand, Minerva was very powerful." Juvia cried "Once, myself, Minerva and Gajeel were sent on an S class mission together, the problem was that one our opponent happened to be a Wizard Saint."

"A Wizard Saint, you guys fought one of them?" Gray gasped in disbelief.

"Yes, but not by choice." Juvia sighed. "His name was Iron Rock Jura and he crushed Gajeel and myself, we could barely touch him. Then Minerva used that strange microphone lance of hers and began singing. It was the most horrible noise I've ever heard; the whole town we were in was shaken apart by the sheer sound alone. By the time she was done and we opened our eyes, the wizard saint was on the ground unconscious."

"Unsurprising, a normal mongrel would have no defence against a Noble Phantasm." Lucy stated "Unless they had some high level of defensive magic."

"She is very childish in terms of personality but also rather sadistic. There are rumours that when female members of Phantom Lord stepped out line Master Jose would send them to Minerva, the ones which came back were never the same afterwards. I believe Gajeel described her most accurately as a 'Vindictive Spiteful little brat'. Although this was because during the aforementioned incident Gajeel was awake for her defeat of the Wizard Saint. She sung with a voice so terrible that the Wizard Saint went down after only a few seconds, she kept going but knew that Gajeel was awake for her 'performance'. he likened it to the shrieking of a thousand strangled demonic cats."

"Wait hold on." Natsu interrupted "What do you mean by 'the ones who came back'?"

"There were some girls who were sent to her, without family, friends or anyone who would miss them who never came back from Minerva's punishments." Juvia stated shivering at the memory. "And when these disappearances took place, Gajeel often commented that she smelt heavily of blood."

"Then why wasn't she arrested!" Gray demanded.

"Because there was simply no proof." Juvia answered holding back a shrug. "The smell of blood could be passed off as the result of a mission, and as for the ones who came back they were far too frightened to even speak about what was done to them. Add to that the fact that after her real parents died and she was adopted by her current father she inherited the title of duchess amongst Fiore's nobility…"

"Without any hard proof the Magic Council won't even investigate a member of the nobility." Lucy sighed folding her arms.

"The intruders, we've found them!" The meal was interrupted by a bunch of guards bursting in and charging them.

However, before they could even reach them the guards were blown into a wall and powerful gust of air like small hurricane, leaving imprints of them on the wall as fell unconscious.

The perpetrator was none other than...

"Erza!" Gray and Natsu said her name in unison.

"It's you! What are you doing inside the Tower?" Erza asked in disbelief at their presence.

"We came for you obviously." Lucy said with a smile.

"We haven't met, I'm Juvia – !"

"Go home! This place is far too dangerous." Erza snapped causing Juvia to flinch.

"You're not gonna scare me into leaving," Natsu proclaimed punching his fist into his hand. "I ain't going anywhere till that Blockhead gets a taste of my fist. I'm gonna make him pay for shooting me in the mouth."

"You have to go." Erza insisted leaning against the wall but trying to look strong.

"Your friends kidnapped Happy! I can't leave here without him!" Natsu growled.

"Then he's with Millianna."

"Well this means war!"

"Who are you declaring war against?" Gray asked sweat dropping

"The jerk that kidnapped my little buddy!" Natsu yelled as ran off to try and rescue Happy.

"And there he goes." Lucy chuckled before withdrawing a small hand mirror from the Gate of Babylon and showing Erza her own reflection. "By the way, I like the colour of your eyes."

"Natsu-Gah!" Erza saw the deep green shade of eyes and fell to her knees and as pain lanced through her head again.

"Erza, are you alright?" Gray yelled going up to Erza and try to see if she ok.

"That blast of air, and the explosion from earlier, ah you're losing control aren't you?" Lucy asked rhetorically with a Cheshire cat like grin on her face. "Some has happened and now the memories you have supressed for so long are erupting to the surface and with it, the powers you had as a heroic spirit."

"How did they do this to you?" Gray asked with concern

"Memory….Lacrima…AGH!" Erza cried out in pain again.

"A memory lacrima? My my that someone really wants you to remember your past." Lucy stated.

"What do you mean?"

"Memory Lacrima are a fairly new invention." Juvia said answering the question. "They are used primarily for people with memory issue's such as amnesiacs, people with brain damage and who need help confronting and dealing with surpassed traumatic memories. They prohibitively expensive because they must be tailored to the individual they are to be used upon."

"So whoever commissioned this lacrima must very much want you to have your old powers back." Lucy stated folding her arms, so that confirms it whoever is at the top of this tower must be a heroic spirit only they would be so bold as to face another heroic spirit with their powers.

"Look, I promise I'll bring Natsu and Happy both back to the guild with me, but you three need to leave immediately." Erza demanded, she glared as Lucy approached her and got closer to her ear, numerous portals opened up behind her, Noble Phantasms aimed at her from each one.

"Shyness has left you at a loss for words I see, that's fine you may answer wrongly as many times as you like. If you would learn the joy of serving me then you must learn the exquisite pain of it as well."

Erza screamed in pain which brought her to her knees. The words triggered a memory. The Fourth Holy Grail War, victory was within her grasp and then…

" _In the name of Kiritsugu Emiya and by my Command Seal." Kiritsugu's voice echoed as a vision of him holding up his hand and preparing the Command Seal._

' _Give me the Holy Grail.' Were her hopeful thoughts of the past._

" _I order you, use your Noble Phantasm…..destroy the Grail." The order that despite learning of why it was necessary later on, cemented her hatred of the man known as the Magus Killer._

"If mere buzzwords like that can bring you to your knees then you don't stand a chance on your own within this tower." Lucy sighed closing the Gate of Babylon.

"This….d-doesn't in-involve you!" Erza gasped trying to get a grip on the intruding memories but still unable to stand.

"We're already involved and we're not leaving." Lucy told her. "SO just give up already and explain to us about this tower."

Erza took several deep breaths, before staring at them and finally giving in.

"This building is the Tower of Heaven, it's also called the R-System." Erza said.

"The R system. I've read about it." Lucy mumbled.

"Over a decade ago a cult dedicated to black magic began its construction. It would be used to cast a forbidden spell that brings the dead back to life," she took a deep breath, "The smell required multiple human sacrifices, so the cult abducted citizens from the surrounding areas and forced them to build the tower as their slaves. I know this because I was one of those slaves." Erza explained reluctantly recalling her time as a slave "Anyone who dared to resist the cult or tried to escape the tower would mysteriously disappear. We never had any peace of mind, we lived in constant fear. But we bonded and made friends we could trust, despite that. Even though we knew we wouldn't be together long. One of my friends in the tower was a boy named Jellal…"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[Tower of Heaven, X776]

_"Erza!" The Scarlet haired young girl trembled, attached to pillar. Tear trails stained her face as Jellal ran to free her._

_"Your eye…" Jellal gasped as she fell into his arms after he freed her. "They've gone too far this time, what she do to deserve this? What did any of us do?!"_

_"Jellal?"_ _Tears fell from the single eye as she finally began to open her eyes, she stared blankly at the boy holding her against his chest._

_"That's right, it's me. You'll be safe now I'm here with you."_

_"B-but how will we get out?" Erza asked as he draped Erza's arm across his shoulders and began to drag her with him, through the hallway and past the guards and dogs he defeated to rescue her. "Well there's no turning back now, we're gonna have to fight."_

_"We have to fight?" Jellal nodded in confirmation._

_All of a sudden the hallway filled with four red magic seals surrounding them, out them corpse like creatures with metal plates on their faces appeared._

" _Get lost!" Jellal yelled grabbing hold of the large sword he taken from the guards._

_As it was grasped it the sword_ _was permeated with his magic energy. It slowly changed and looked as if it was tainted with a black colour, blood red lines invaded the sword and multiplied like the veins on a leaf._

_Mere magically conjured soldiers were no match for sword that had become a Noble Phantasm, even if it was only temporary and they were swiftly cut down._

" _But what if I fail, like those times in the past?" Erza whimpered._

" _Listen, you won't fail." Jellal stated looking at her with certainty. "I know those nightmares have made too afraid draw your Noble Phantasm. So until you get the courage, you can borrow one of mine."_

_Jellal put down the sword took Erza's hands into his own. A red flow enveloped Jellal and followed through his hands into Erza. She felt a power taking root and settling deep within her._

" _But what about you?" Erza asked with worry._

" _Don't worry, I finally have the magic power to use this!" In Jellal's hands was a sword similar in design to the one she couldn't draw,_ _the fairy letters carved into it were proof that it had not been forged by mortal hands. The way the light shone off of it was like the water of the lake, shining with radiance._ _Arondight: The Unfading Light of the Lake, a holy sword turned demonic by the deeds of its owner in his previous life. But even so, the light that shone off it gave Erza feeling of safety and hope._

_*BANG*_

_The sound of something hard hitting flesh echoed through the hallway. Arondight faded back to nonexistence as Jellal fell to the ground. Erza saw a small glass sphere quickly retreat into the shadows just as guards came, crushing her hope once again._

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

_Back in the cells the others were worried. Jellal had been gone for a long time since going to rescue Erza._

_"I hope sister is alright…" Shō muttered worriedly._

_"Grandpa Rob, you came back from punishment alive, you think she'll be okay?" Simon asked the old man who shared their cell._

_"She's going to be fine. They can torture her all day and night, but they'll never be able to take her soul away from her."_

_"What do you mean by that?" Simon asked confused._

_"Get in!"_

_The small group turned around to see thrown inside. Simon rushed to the red haired girls side, her arms and legs bandaged up._

_"Wait where's Jellal?!" Simon asked seeing that her would-be rescuer was missing._

_"Don't upset her anymore." Grandpa Rob told them. "We should be glad that's returned alive, they have most likely chosen to keep him in her place, but he is strong he won't falter to likes of them."_

_"I-I can't take it," Shō said beginning to cry as he started to break down._

_"Quit your crying, kid," The guard who had come into their cell demanded._

_"We're gonna have to fight…" Erza's eye widened and as Jellal's voice echoed in her mind._

_Her eyes widened as fury overtook her, grabbing one of the shovels that the guards had brought with them, it became black and red veins spider webbed across it. In a swift motion the shovel shattered the guard's staff and sent him flying out the cell._

_"Find a weapon!" Erza yelled running out her cell and looking at everyone. "We can't escape and they're not going to set us free. So if we want out of here, we'll have to fight! For our lives, for our freedom!"_

_Everyone let out a loud cheer._

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"So we took a stand for our freedom, we hoped to save our dear friend Jellal," Erza explained the pain in her head subsiding as she pulled herself to her feet. "He was like the leader of our group back then. He was a good and loyal friend, almost like he was trying to atone for something. But something happened to him, he fell under some sort of spell that made him into a different person."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

" _Annoying little brat!" A guard lunged at Erza and with a mighty swing destroyed the shovel she had been using as a weapon with a great blast of magic energy._

" _There are more coming!" Sho cried pointing down the hall where another contingent of guards was charging._

" _You're all done for now!" The guard boasted. "Your leader has no weapon and reinforcements are here….what the!?"_

_The guard was cut off as Erza held something invisible to his throat, no not invisible more like the wind was sheathing something. Suddenly it burst apart revealing a golden hilted sword with fairy lettering inscribed on the blade. It was clearly not the work of any human._

" _What is that-Gah!" The Guard was cut off as Erza roughly kicked him backwards to the group of charging guards who had halted upon seeing the sword._

" _Is that a magic sword?" Another asked._

" _Where did that brat get it from?!"_

_A golden light began to envelop the sword of promised victory blinding all who were looking at it._

' _Jellal I did it.' Erza thought to herself as the light grew larger and more intense. "EX-" she swung the sword down. "CALIBUR!"_

_With that single incantation the Sword of Promised Victory awoke and unleashed its power, the golden light mowing down all the guards foolish enough to stand against it, and blasting a large hole in the side of the Tower, letting the sunlight in._

' _I knew you could do it my king.' Rob thought fondly as old memories of glories began to surface upon looking at the fading golden light._

_When the light had finally died away, not even ashes were left of the guards who had come to put the rebellion down. Erza fell to her knees as exhaustion took her over she fell to sleep._

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

_After a short rest Erza awoke, the urgency of the situation snapping her to attention._

_"We have to free everyone in sector eight next." Erza commanded after waking up from her nap to find the other's fortifying their position. "Come on we can do it!"_

_"No we can't! We could never take down all those guards!" Simon argued._

_"We have to… that's the only way we'll be able to save Jellal…"_

_"I guess she's into him, sorry old buddy." Wally said leaning on Simon's shoulder, causing him to blush in response._

_"Erza, do you have a crush on Jellal?" Simon asked._

_"What? Why would you ask me something like that right now?" Erza yelled her face turning o red with embarrassment. "We – we need to focus."_

_"Sorry, but I just wanted to make sure because – " Simon was cut off as an explosion sent him and Erza flying._

_"Where'd that come from?!" Wally yelled looking from the source._

_"Look up there!" Millianna pointed upwards to see magic soldiers closing in from above._

_"Magic Soldiers!"_

_"Simon!" Erza crawled over to him and rolled him over. "He's hurt!"_

_"I may not have much magic left, but I have enough to use it one more time." Rob declared moving in front of everyone. "And that is more than enough to protect my friends! I will not let you take the life of an innocent!"_

_As the magic soldiers released the blasts of magic power they had been charging Rob raised his right arm._

" _Lord Camelot!" As Rob yelled this a shield appeared on his arm, it was a black round wooden shield with a large metal cross bigger than the wooden part attached to the front._

_The magic blasts impacted the shield and were bounced off it destroying the magic soldiers. Even so, Rob's strength began to fade and he fell to his knees, the shield however held._

_"Gala-had?"_

" _I'm glad you remember me my king." Rob said with a smile. "To be honest, I sensed your presence in this world and came here to rescue you, but I was ambushed and my magic energy drained. Without it I couldn't summon my Noble Phantasm or even fight back. But now that I'm free I was able to gather enough power to use it one more time. Unfortunately, I'm too old to survive magic depletion now."_

_Tears rolled down her cheeks as he blocked the shots fired from another contingent of guards who came in and tried to subdue them, the shots were again repelled killing the guards. However now that his magic energy had run dry the Noble Phantasm dissolved, fading away._

_"I'm so sorry." Rob apologised as he fell to the ground and began going paler. "I found the Holy Grail and returned it to heavens. But when I tried to save you, I let thugs these beat me and keep you here. Can you ever forgive me my King?"_

" _There's nothing to forgive Galahad." Erza said tears falling from her face and landing on Rob's own. "Just please don't go!"_

" _I'm proud to have been able to serve you one more time." Rob said with a smile as his life began rapidly fading "May I be so bold as to ask a favour?"_

" _Anything, just don't die." Erza pleaded._

" _When you are free, please go to Fairy Tail and tell Makarov that I'm sorry I was unable to return. I made good friends there and even met people I would call family, even if the guild is not for you can you give it a try? I think you'll like it there." Rob's eyes began to close._

" _Galahad wait!" Erza cried out and in her hands appeared a scabbard made of gold and decorated with blue enamel and Fairy Letters inscribed on it. Avalon: The Everdistant Utopia a sheath with healing powers unmatched. "Avalon please!"_

_She shoved the scabbard into Rob's arms but nothing happened. His eyes did not open, no glow came from the magic scabbard, no indication that Avalon was doing anything at all. The light that was the life force of Rob, the reincarnation of the knight Sir Galahad had left this world and Avalon could not resurrect the dead._

" _NOOOOOO!" Erza let out a scream of despair from deep within, even as Avalon vanished._

" _He's really gone." Simon said beginning to cry._

" _Grandpa Rob, no!" Millianna cried._

" _We can't let them get away with this." Erza said wiping her tears and standing up, Excalibur materialising in her hand. "Come on, we have to fight for our freedom!"_

_All of the slaves let out a cheer, raising their own weapons, fully prepared to fight or die._

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

_Meanwhile in the room where Erza had been previously held two of the guards were talking._

_"They're revolting!" the fat guard stated. "What are we gonna do?"_

_"Run for it!" The skinny one said._

_They both ran towards the door before freezing. Erza was there and was walking at a slow pace towards them._

" _Now let's not do anything hasty."_

" _It's not our fault we were just following orders."_

" _Get out of my way!" Erza slashed the two easily sending to the ground._

_"I'm here to save you!" Erza sad running to Jellal and cutting him free. "Everything's okay, we're safe now."_

_"Come on, Wally found some boats." Erza said pulling Jellal up. "He's waiting for us. We're free, we can go now."_

_"There's no reason for you to leave the tower." Jellal stated putting one arm around her "Because true freedom is right here with me."_

_"But I thought you wanted to get out of here too! This is our chance at freedom!"_

_"Don't you see, there's no freedom in this world…"_ Jellal said as a reddish _smoke began rising from out of skin his tone filling hate. "Those fools who built this tower may not hold you prisoner anymore, but you haven't experienced true freedom. Because that can only be found in Zeref's world. Now I understand why they made us work so hard on this tower, they believe that can use it to resurrect Zeref."_

_Jellal then approached the skinny man who was trembling._

_"You claim to be such devout followers, but you couldn't even feel your god's presence here could you? This tower belongs to me now. I will finish its construction and bring Zeref back to life."_

_Jellal grabbed the skinny man and tossed him upwards into the ceiling, only for him to crash down and be impaled on the sharp points of the lacrima in the centre of the room._

_"Stop it!"_

_The Fat man made to run but Jellal was in front of him. Black armour, like that of a knight covering his body. In his hands appeared Arondight, swiftly he decapitated the fat guard._

_"You killed them… what's happened to you?" Erza demanded._

_"I haven't changed one bit, I'm renaming this place the Tower of Heaven," he then turned to Erza with Arondight in his hand. "You and I will stay here and finish it together."_

_"This is wrong, you've got to be under some sort of spell, snap out of it please!"_

_"Enough, I am completely myself." Jellal snapped "When the tower is finish we will resurrect Zeref."_

_"Why would anybody want to stay here when we finally have a chance to leave?!" Erza yelled._

_"Erza!" Jellal hefted her by the rags she wore and slammed her into a wall and threw her through a wall and back into the construction area._

_"Fine if you want to leave so badly, then I'm not going to stop you, but you'll have to go alone!" Jellal told her looking down on her from the scaffolding._

" _What do you mean?" Erza asked as stood up and Excalibur faded away._

" _There's no way I could finish the Tower's construction by myself. So I'm going to keep the others here with me, but don't worry I promise I won't mistreat them. I'll make sure everyone's fed and clothed and that they get plenty of rest between their shifts. I'm sure Zeref would prefer that I build more hatred by ruling with an iron fist. But weak and unhappy people don't make very good workers."_

" _They're not gonna agree to that." Erza yelled "Everyone's on the boats ready to go they're just waiting for us to join them. There's no way you could convince them to stay here and work for you now."_

" _Oh I don't think I'll have any problem convincing them." Jellal said with a smirk. "Because I'm going to give them a purpose. Once they learn of Zerefs power they'll happily work to resurrect him."_

" _But none of them would willingly become a sacrifice!"_

" _It doesn't matter, Zeref told me sacrifices aren't necessary. He's such a benevolent god isn't he?"_

" _Jellal you're stronger than this magic, fight it!"_

_"I don't need you anymore, but since you took care of the fools who were in my way, I guess I'll let you live. Enjoy your newfound freedom, but I have some rules for you before you go."_

_"I can't breathe!"_

_"I demand you never tell anyone of this place, if the government found out about the Tower of Heaven I'd be in serious trouble. If word were to get out, I'd have no choice but to destroy the tower and everyone inside it. You're forbidden from ever returning here again, set one foot on this land and I'll kill your friends. I figure Shō would have to be the first to go."_

_"No!"_

_"ONE FALSE MOVE AND YOUR FRIENDS WILL DIE! I'LL ENJOY TRUE FREEDOM WHILE YOU SUFFER BURDENED BY YOUR GUILT!"_

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

_A few days later Erza washed on a beach after taking a ship and escaping from the Tower of Heaven. Tears fell down her face as Avalon materialised in her hands._

" _Why? Why can't I do anything right?" Erza yelled crying at the heavens. "Camelot, my knights, Galahad, Sho and the others and Jellal. I should never have become king, and if I can't even save the life of one of my most loyal knights then WHY DO HAVE THIS THING!"_

_Erza screamed and tossed Avalon with all her might causing it to land in the ocean. The scabbard quickly filled with water and sunk beneath the waves and was quickly carried away by the ocean current._

" _I don't wanna be a king! I'm just going to be Erza, not King Arthur never again." With this declaration, Erza's green eye's turned brown and her powers as a heroic spirit began to be supressed along with the memories of her past life._

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"The time for action is now!" Seigrain declared. "We must use the satellite square to fire an Etherion blast directly at the tower!"

"The R-System is forbidden magic we cannot allow to be a part of our recorded history," Ultear put in. "Therefore it has to be destroyed. Why can't you see that?"

"Etherion would obliterate everything in its path, including any innocent civilians inside the tower." Org argued, still against using Etherion.

"Not to mention your own brothers' life is at stake. If you fire the Etherion he's sure to die. Would you be able to live with that guilt?" Michello asked.

"If it's for the greater good…."

"All the lives of those innocent civilians will be lost, we must stop him. It's a sacrifice that must be made now." Leiji said agreeing with Seigrain and Ultear.

"How can you say that? Can you imagine how we'd be vilified if we attacked Caelum without warning?! We'd go down in history as mass murders!"

"I am willing to sacrifice my reputation in order to save countless lives." Belno stated.

"You can't be serious?!"

"Think of how the R-System will affect future generations? How can we teach our children the value of life if the dead can be resurrected?" Leiji asked.

"We have to put an end to this, I would like to vote in favour of an Etherion attack." Belno stated agreeing to fire.

"We need one more." Seigrain said.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"I don't know, maybe it's just me, but for some reason the name Zeref sounds familiar."

"He created the demon Lullaby and the flute it came out of, you idiot." Lucy sighed giving Gray an annoyed glance. "That demon was from one of the Books of Zeref."

"I never mentioned it, but I believe that Deliora was a demon from one of the Books of Zeref as well."

"There's a book of demons? You can bring them to life with this Black Wizards book? Shouldn't we be searching for it and destroying it?!"

"Because firstly there are _Books_ of Zeref as in plural are even paying attention!" Lucy snapped.

"Sorry geez, but what about destroying them?" Gray asked raising his hands defensively.

"You don't think the council has tried? Alright I'll simplify for you, when Deliora was rampaging why do you think there was a more advanced warning system in place and evacuations in advance for towns and cities it was headed too! Because it has _not_ been rampaging for four hundred years, it was only released recently. Before it came to destroy towns like your it was released when the council attempted to destroy the Book of Zeref which contained it!" Erza, Gray and Juvia gasped at Lucy's words. "The Books of Zeref are all booby trapped, if a weak mind attempts to read one they risk being possessed or even having their minds destroyed. The Volume's that contain demons are booby trapped so that if anyone attempts to destroy them then the demon within will be released, the Magic Council just so happened to try this with the one containing Deliora and wound up releasing it."

"Wait so if the Council released Deliora then why doesn't everyone know!" Gray demanded angrily "How do you know!"

"Because people would lose faith in the Council if they found out they released a demon like Deliora. As for how I know, I have contacts inside the Council who allow me access to their more private archives." Lucy replied "Now as I was saying, The Books of Zeref contain more than just demons they have his notes on various forbidden spells and magic's which are these days considered black arts. However, the demons don't come in until much later volumes. The early ones contain notes on various magical items and magic's all geared towards one purpose, for whatever reason before he went around creating demons Zeref was very interested in resurrecting the dead."

"He wanted to revive someone?" Erza breathed.

"Indeed, before he went mad and started creating demons and evil artefacts, that appears to have been his goal."

"How do you know so much about these books?" Gray asked.

"Because I possess and have read several volumes." Lucy replied with a shrug causing the group to gasp and looks of shock to cross their faces. "It's too bad really, If Zeref hadn't become the dreaded Black Wizard, he would have been the greatest author in magical literary history in Earth Land four hundred years ago."

"What! But those books are full of forbidden black magic!" Erza exclaimed.

"Yeah Lucy if the council finds out then they'll-"

"Do nothing." Lucy cut Gray off. "Even if they somehow found out I was in possession of them Lady Kin's influence would protect me. They'd need a great deal of proof to even gain a warrant in order to investigate and try to find the books, plus it would be extremely bad for them to have harassed me for no reason if they found nothing with such a tall accusation."

"If Zeref is as evil as you say, why would Jellal want to resurrect him?" Juvia asked curiously.

"I'm not sure but my old friend Shō said something to me about Zeref getting them into Heaven." Erza stated.

"Nonsense." Lucy snorted "There is no way Zeref could get anyone into Heaven. It sounds like your Jellal may have become possessed, perhaps he had an encounter with one of the Books all those years ago?"

"What do you mean?" Erza asked.

"As I said the Books of Zeref are booby trapped. The ones with forbidden magic and knowledge of the black arts have traps on them that cause weak minded people to become zealots who worship Zeref. There have been a number of cases of wealthy people collecting some volume's and then becoming possessed. Think about it, the cult that ran this place had lots of guards, architects and slaves. Even to this day Slave raids aren't uncommon in outlying towns and villages, but supplies are a different matter. They'd need, all sorts of building materials as well as food and water for the people here. They couldn't steal all those things without attracting the attention of various nations and bringing them down upon them. It's like the cult that previously occupied this tower was sponsored by a wealthy patron who gave them the money for supplies."

"But wouldn't the rich guy who's funding the place stop giving out money when the cult was overthrown?" Gray asked

"No, as long as the tower is built the possessed patron wouldn't care whose building it." Lucy told him "The possessed don't think like us, they don't have attachments to people only the goal their possession drives them towards."

"But wait, the heroic spirits I know off seem to be immune to most magics." Juvia interjected. "If this Jellal is a heroic spirit then how did Zeref's magical trap control him?"

"Well not all Heroic Spirits have Magic Resistance and those that do have varying levels of it." Lucy told her before switching into her Golden Armour "For example my armour affords me a high Magic Resistance, combine that with the various items in my treasury and I can block just about any magic. Erza and Minerva on the other hand have a naturally high magic resistance due to special physical attributes they possess. Remember Zeref was a very powerful and skilled wizard. Such that even his booby traps could cause a Heroic Spirit to become possessed if they have low or even no magic resistance at all."

"So Heroic Spirit reincarnates aren't invincible." Juvia noted.

"Indeed, your best shot at defeating one is to have another heroic spirit on your side." Lucy said "But if you aren't that lucky then your best shot is use your brains and study their defensive and offensive capabilities, look for patterns in their attack styles, aim for attacks that can instantly disable or kill, that is your best chance. Because in terms of power you are hopelessly outmatched."

"Sister. That's not true. Why – why are you lying to them?!" Everyone looked to see that an injured Sho had entered the room.

"Shō –"

"You think you making yourself the martyr, you're going to get sympathy from your friends? Tell them the truth! That's not how it happened and you know it!" Sho yelled angrily. "You blew up the boats we were going to use to escape and then you left on your own! We would have ended up at the bottom of the sea if it hadn't been for Jellal! He saved us, he warned us not to trust wizards like you, who haven't learned to use their magic properly. He said you'd become drunk with magical power and didn't want anything to do with your past or the people you left behind."

"Did you ever think he might be lying?"

"You only think you know her! You weren't there back then you don't know anything about us. When you left Jellal's words were my only salvation, that's why I helped finish the tower, for his sake. But you're telling me that he's been lying this entire time."

"That's right." Simon said materialising in the room,

"Simon!"

"You!" Gray got into a fighting stance prepared to fight only to be stopped by Juvia.

"Wait! He doesn't pose a threat. He never meant you any harm. At the resort he knew he was attacking your ice decoy."

"But how?"

"Since it was he who cast the darkness spell it had no effect on him. I came along in hopes of discovering why." Juvia stated.

"I would expect no less from a member of Phantom's Element Four." Simon said nodding at Juvia.

"I don't understand…"

"I had to fool you and the others into thinking I had killed him. I had hoped our attack would lead them here."

"So you were lying too? How could you do that to me?"

"I am sorry… Jellal had you and the others under his spell and I couldn't convince you otherwise. I played along until the time was right."

"So you knew all along…"

"I always believed in you Erza, there's nothing that could change that." Simon said smiling warmly.

"I mean those words from the bottom of my heart. I knew you would return one day, when you were ready." Simon said hugging Erza.

"I can't believe I blindly followed him all these years, I doubted you because you left me all alone! You have no idea how much that hurt! I don't even know who I should believe anymore…" Sho mumbled as he fell to his knees and began crying.

"I know it must be difficult for you to take all of this in at once, but Sho there is something you should know." Erza said moving over to hug Sho. "Even though I have tried to bury the memories of my past, the ones I made with you and the others are some of the one's that I keep closest to my heart. I'm sorry I couldn't stand up to him I was so weak back then, please forgive me."

"Now you're stronger and ready to face him, isn't that right?" Simon questioned with a smile.

"Simon...hey does the name Kagura ring a bell to you?" Lucy asked.

"It's my sisters name." Simon told her "So she is still alive after all this time."

"You'd know, after all if she were dead you would have defeated Jellal by now wouldn't you, Sir Gawain?" Lucy said revealing his identity.

"G-gawain?" Erza breath glancing at Simon, whose hair colour had changed to blond and his to a deep green colour.

"It is me, my king or part of me." Simon said. "When I was incarnated into this world my soul was split between me and my sister. So while I have Galatine I cannot use it to its full measure, not until our soul is whole again and I will not betray my sister not even to reclaim my full power."

"I understand, thank you for believing in me." Erza said standing up.

"So do you have a plan?" Lucy asked.

"I'm going to try and defeat Jellal. Hopefully after beating him senseless he'll be able to break through this spell that's been controlling him all this time." Simon stated "But first we must keep Wally and Salamander from clashing."

Suddenly a loud explosion rocked the room causing everyone to look around.

"I do believe it is too late on that front." Lucy sighed.

"Yup, typical Natsu." Gray said shaking his head.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

In his throne room Jellal chuckled darkly, knocking over two separate chest pieces.

"Shō and Simon have chosen to betray me," he said simply, "And it appears that Wally and Millianna have fallen at the hands of Salamander. This is how the game should be played, one-side matches are always dreadfully boring."

"Master."

The hooded man looked up from his game board.

"Erza must be captured at once, so we can begin the ceremony. I'm afraid the time for playing games is over now."

"Prudent as always, Vidaldus, fetch her."

"You'll allow me?"

"It is our turn after all…"

A sinister grin spread across Vidaldus' lips as he watched three new pieces be set down on the board. In a burst of light he took on a new wilder form than the dignified one he had earlier.

"Assassins from the Death's Head Order: Vidaldus Taka…"

"Go to hell, yeah that's right! They can say their prayers if they wanna, but they're all gonna be burning in hell tonight!"

"Fukuro…"

An owl-like man who let out a sound like a hoot like an owl stepped out of the shadows.

"And Ikaruga Sasaki, their leader."

"Hailing from the Death's Head Order guild, the special forces squad known as Trinity Raven, is at your service, Sir." Ikaruga stated.

"It's time you entered the fray, now go."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"WELCOME TO THE TOWER OF HEAVEN, MY NAME IS JELLAL, I AM THE RULER OF THIS TOWER. I SEE THE PLAYERS HAVE BEEN ARRANGED." Jellal's voice echoed throughout the tower.

"So he knows. He could be lurking anywhere in the tower." Simon growled.

"I'd check the top first." Lucy said "The best odds are that he's right at the top."

"I'M DELIGHTED YOU'VE COME ALL THIS WAY TO SEE ME. SHALL WE PLAY A ROUND OF HEAVENS GAME? THE RULES ARE REALLY QUITE SIMPLE. I WISH TO USE ERZA AS A SACRIFICE IN MY CEREMONY TO RESURECT LORD ZEREF. IF I SUCCEED, THE GATES OF HEAVEN WILL OPEN, CROWNING MY VICTORY. HOWEVER, IF YOU CAN MANAGE TO FIND A WAY TO STOP ME, YOU'LL BE THE WINNERS OF THE GAME. TO MAKE THINGS A LTTLE MORE INTERESTING I'VE ENLISTED THREE KNIGHTS TO BATTLE ON MY BEHALF."

"Three knights? Who could they be?" Simon asked.

"THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN GET TO ME IS IF YOU DEFEAT THEM. IN OTHERS WORDS, A THREE ON EIGHT BATTLE ROYAL, AND THERE'S ONE MORE SURPRISE, THE MAGIC COUNCIL HAS THE SATELLITE SQUARE FOCUSED DIRECTLY ON THIS TOWER, IT'S HIGHLY LIKELY THEY WILL ATTACK. AT THIS VERY MOMENT THEY ARE VOTING ON WHETHER OR NOT THEY SHOULD FIRE AN ETHERION BLAST. THERE'S NO TELLING HOW MUCH TIME IS LEFT. SHOULD THE ETHERION STRIKE COMPLETE ANNHILATION IS IMMINENT, NO PLAYERS LEFT TO WIN. GAME OVER."

"But that doesn't make any sense, why would the Magic Council resort to such drastic measures?" Erza yelled.

"I won't let him touch her!" There was a sudden light and Sho looked shocked.

"I don't understand she should be safe inside my card. Why didn't it work?" he cried.

"It seems you're A ranked Magic Resistance has returned." Lucy noted. "Sorry kid but little tricks like that won't work on Erza anymore."

"LET THE GAMES BEGIN!"

"I won't let him lay a finger on her!" Shō yelled running on ahead quickly "I'll beat Jellal all by myself if I have to!"

"No Sho wait!" Erza quickly pursued him.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Ultimately the group had opted to split up in order to regroup with Natsu. Lucy was with Juvia in a room with a number of large tunnels. Although Lucy was less interested in finding Natsu and more interested in ditching Juvia so she could find the Book of Zeref she knew was in the Tower.

Suddenly a loud noise began blaring down one of the tunnels. The two women saw a man with long raven hair and a crazed grin.

"You ladies like my destruction solo?"

"You are the source of that cacophonous noise that just assaulted my ears?" Lucy demanded with anger.

"Hey my music is rockin, it ain't no noise." The man said. "I'm an assassin with the Death's Head Order, pretty rockin' name huh? A death heads' like a skull, get it?"

"I take it you're one of the nights Jellal spoke of?" Juvia asked.

"I'm a wing of the Trinity Raven, when they scream Vidaldus Taka they're talking about me! ROCK YE-AGH!"

The man was silenced as a sword smashed through his guitar and impaled him through the chest and extended out through the back of his throat.

"I do not have time for this." Lucy sighed firing a few more swords to impale the man for good measure. "Do know what the best part of being in a legal guild is? I can legally kill dark guild trash like yourself and the council will do nothing. That's because you dark guilds are popping up like insects recently and they really want you gone."

Vidaldus fell to the ground dead. Glittering golden signalled the swords returning to the Gate of Babylon.

"You killed him." Juvia said putting her hands over her mouth.

"Don't mourn him, he was only dark guild trash after all." Lucy responded stepping forward and closing her eyes. 'Show me the way Sha Nagba Imuru.'

After a few seconds she reopened her eyes and pointed to a tunnel off to the left.

"Follow that tunnel and you'll eventually find Gray." Lucy told her while stepping through the tunnel that Vidaldus had been occupying.

"B-but what about you?" Juvia asked just barely supressing her infatuation.

"I'm going to find something to read." Lucy replied focusing on Sha Nagba Imuru's directions to the Book of Zeref that lay within the tower.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Running on ahead Erza and Sho came to a room with a bridge over a small pool over water and covered with arches. There were cherry blossom trees on small islands in the water. Their pink blossoms floating about the room.

As Sho ran across the bridge he stopped when a woman appeared.

The woman had long, bright pink hair which is tied on top of her head in two large buns. She has a curvaceous figure, peach skin covered by a long, slightly loose white kimono with a red stripe in between two black stripes around the waist as well as a red triangle at the bottom of her dress, decorated by flames and skulls motifs, open at the top to reveal her shoulders and a fair amount of cleavage; it was closed around the waist by a large black belt adorned with a horned skull.

"Get out of my way Lady don't make me hurt you." Sho threatened summoning his cards.

"It's nice to see you again, Servant Saber." Ikagura said ignoring Sho completely.

"W-who are you?" Erza asked falling to one knee as pain gripped her head again.

"I suppose I am different in appearance this time around, but maybe this will help remind you." Ikaruga tapped her hair and her long pink locks became a deep shadow of purple as did her green eyes.

"No….it can't be….Asssassin?!" Erza stammered struck with realisation.

Ikaruga simply gave a smile in the direction of the kneeling woman.


	16. The Kings of Knights Returns

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.**

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Lucy Heartfillia sat now in the great library of the Tower of Heaven, massive shelves of books lining the walls. Her seat was a finely decorated throne that she'd brought out from the Gate of Babylon. In her hands was what she'd been looking for the Book of Zeref that she knew had been in this tower.

After removing the magical protections on it, she had opened the book up and her eyes shone. Inside were notes, diagrams and details about the Tower of Heaven and how to construct it.

"Hmmm….the ritual to sacrifice someone in order to resurrect the dead looks pretty straight forward," Lucy commented as she perused through the notes. "So why did Zeref…." Then she saw something else, the magic energy requirement in order for the tower to be activated. "Ah, that explains it Two point Seven Billion Edeas worth of Magic Energy? No wonder Zeref abandoned this thing not even all the Wizards on Ishgar and Alvarez combined could come close to that much magic energy so the how does Jellal…." Lucy looked outside at the sky and it came to her "Oh course, Etherion how clever."

Closing her eyes for a moment Lucy let her drift and then suddenly stood up as she saw what Sha Nagba Imuru was showing her. She closed the book and stored it and the throne away in the Gate of Babylon.

"I see, it seems Natsu and Gray have finished his fight with the owl man and Juvia has caught up." Lucy sighed and began walking towards the door. "But it seems Saber is about to face that gate bound Assassin. I suppose I should rescue her, without her Holy Sword she stands no chance I guess I have no choice but to force hand and give her no option but to use Excalibur."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"How are you here?" Erza asked gripping her head in pain as images of fighting the false Assassin flooded her mind.

"It seems that even though I am merely an anonymous swordsman given the mantle of Kojiro Sasaki by the Holy Grail I was allowed reincarnation just like you." Ikaruga replied with a smile."Why? I can't say, who knows what the conditions for us being reincarnated are. You know you don't look very well, I heard from my employer that you have been fighting yourself, trying to desperately not to embrace your past self. That memory lacrima has left you in no condition to fight right now, boy what is your name? Sho was it?"

"Yeah, now get out of my way!"

"How about a duel, just like knights of used to settle a dispute," Ikaruga told him with a smile. "You see my contract obligates me to stop you but I can tell you really are determined to save your friend, so I propose a duel. If you can even break my skin I will gladly step aside. We will even take it in turns, neither of us can attack or counter attack while it's the others turn, you can even have the first move if you like."

"I accept let's do it!" Sho yelled preparing to attack.

"Hold it." She cut across him "In the Death's Head Order guild failure is not tolerated so if by some miracle you actually win they'd have me killed. So seeing as I am wagering my life you must wager yours it's only fair don't you think?"

"Alright fine, I just need to cut you a little in order to win anyway," Sho growled impatiently.

"No Sho don't please, she's too powerful she'll kill you!" Erza cried trying to stand up but failed as another wave of pain shot through her, images of fighting Assassin on the steps of the temple raged in her mind.

"King of Knights as you can see your friend is wagering his life of his own free will think of this as a special offer because he's a friend of yours," Ikaruga stated placing her hand on her katana. "Now then Sho let us begin."

"TAKE THIS!" Sho yelled creating a magic circle and fired twenty glowing cards at the assassin.

Ikaruga merely gave a small smile and gripped her Katana as the cards impacted and exploded, shaking the room and kicking up a cloud of dust which obscured the woman from view.

"Did I do it?" Sho asked breathing heavily as the attack had drained his magic energy.

The sound of a platformed sandal stepping upon wood was heard. The whole room fell silent, the water stopped rippling, the leaves in the trees seemed to stop rustling, it was like that sound had stopped time itself. Each step caused the fear in Sho to grow more and more, until out of the smoke stepped Ikaruga.

"It was a nice try for one of your level of skill but it is my turn now." She said.

"No way we had a deal, if I cut you then you'd step aside and I have," Sho yelled pointed to a tear his attack had made in Ikaruga's kimono sleeve.

Glancing down at the tear she let out a sigh and shook her head. "If you remember I said if you can break my skin then you win, but you've only torn my kimono, my favourite kimono I'll have you know. So now it is my turn."

"Wait but how did you block that, you said you wouldn't do anything until it was my turn." Sho protested.

"I said I would neither attack nor counter attack I don't remember saying that I would not defend myself." Ikaruga told him her words causing Sho to tremble "Set up defences if you like, if you manage to survive my attack it will be your turn again and you'll have another shot."

Sho quickly threw up his arms and conjured several cards which stuck to his body and emitted a pale yellow light making a force field which covered his body.

" **Card Magic: Light force Barrier.** " He conjured more cards, this time they stuck to body covering barrier completely before becoming metal. " **Card Magic: Steel Card Armour.** "

"I see, layering yourself with a solid barrier and magical one in order to protect yourself." Ikaruga said tilting her head slightly "But it won't be enough."

Sho gulped, as Ikaruga took slow methodical steps towards him he felt a sense of fear as if with each step death itself was approaching, a fear coiling around his insides his instincts screaming at him to run, and only just able to prevent himself from doing so.

She stopped a couple of feet away from him and drew her sword, the sound of the blade leaving its sheath caused his fear to rise even more now his metal armour rattled as he trembled with fear from within it.

"What you gave me was your best shot, so it would be rude of me not to return the favour in full." Ikaruga took up no stance, merely prepared her sword and uttered the words Erza dreaded " **Concealed Sword: Swallow Reversal** "

Sho even behind his defence was shaken it was like she had performed three attacks simultaneously. But somehow it wasn't like she was fast but more like she made all three at the same period in time. Three attacks that, when used together, left him with no path of escape.

Dreading for her friend Erza fought through the pain used the one magic that might make a difference.

"Strike Air."

The sound of the clash of steel against steel and metal against air echoed through the room.

"I thought the King of Knights would have more honour than to interfere with the duel of another," Ikaruga chided as she finished her attack and looked at Erza. "But the only difference you've made is to extend your friends suffering, I was aiming to grant him a swift death but thanks to you he will suffer for another minute, say your goodbye's nothing short of a miracle can save him now." The Swordswoman sighed and walked back over to the gateway she had been standing watch over.

As she walked away Sho's metal cards and the barrier beneath them shattered like glass. The boy himself flew backwards a bit before landing near Erza, three gashes all of them fatal, but none of them immediately so were bleeding out.

"Sho!" Erza stumbled over to the boy who was now dying on the ground and lifted him partly into her arms. "Hang on, Sho just hang on."

"I-I so hard, but in the end, I was too weak." Sho stammered coughing up blood onto Erza's hands "I'm sorry."

"Sho please don't go." Erza cried tears falling down onto the boy's face.

"Rob wasn't your fault, he protected you because he believed in you, just like I should have." Sho weakly clasped his hands around Erza's own. "You h-have the s-s-strength to beat Jellal…." Another cough, more blood the light was fading from Sho's eye's rapidly "You just need to….b-believe in yourself…..you know who you are. You were always….different." With that, Sho's grasp on her hands became slack as his eye's closed for the last time.

"SHO!" Erza's cry out of sorrow for her friend echoed throughout the Tower of Heaven.

Ikaruga said nothing, choosing instead choosing to close her eyes and keep a respectful silence while offering a prayer the dead boy who had challenged her so bravely. She opened her eyes upon hearing the sound of magic.

"You will pay for this Assassin," Erza growled re-quipping into her Heaven's Wheel Armour.

Letting out an angry roar she charged at Ikaruga. Blue sparks rained over the bridge as Erza and Ikaruga's blades clashed, breaking the deadlock and flying into the air above her adversary. Erza summoned a dozen magical swords. **"Heaven's Wheel: Circle Swords!"** The swords began spinning rapidly in a circle and flew at Ikaruga.

"Hmm…you hold back against me even now. **Mugetsu Style** ," Ikaruga said calmly as she swiped her katana in a pattern, effortlessly shattering all the swords sent against her, the fragments piercing the wooden floor around Ikaruga, not a single one touching her.

"That was my Yasha-senku," Ikaruga explained with a tone of disappointment. "It allows me to cut what is before me even without touching my sword."

Erza landed back on the bridge when she did Ikaruga swiped her katana in front of her. Suddenly, cracks appeared on Erza's Heaven's Wheel Armor spider webbing over it until the armour exploded into pieces. Erza cried out in agony as she stumbled back a few meters, landing on her feet.

" **Mugetsu Style…"** Ikaruga chanted as an orange light illuminated underneath her."… **Karuda-en!"** A blaze of orange flames formed around Ikaruga the assassin, and then ripped down the bridge, leaving a creating a charred trench in it.

When it cleared Erza quickly re-quipped into her Flame Empress Armor and crossed her arms in front of her to shield herself from the inferno; however, she was unable to block the force behind the attack sending her skidding back across the bridge. The S class wizard was still on her feet however as the flames dispersed.

"That's Flame Empress Armor," Ikaruga observed, "it's highly resistant to flame attacks, is it not? But it matters not, it still isn't enough."

Suddenly without warning the large armoured gauntlets on Erza's arms shattered, causing her to clench her teeth in pain.

"If you insist on insulting me by not drawing your Holy Sword then I suggest you adorn yourself with the most powerful armour you possess."

A red magical seal appeared under Erza's feet as light consumed her body. When it died away, she was clad in a black armour that was covered in spikes. Her hair was styled in very prominent spikes pointing outwards in every direction, a shadow obscuring her face.

"Purgatory Armour!" Erza shouted with glowing, enraged red eyes. "You'll regret what you've done Assassin, No one has seen this armour and lived to talk about it!"

Another red magic circle appeared and in Erza's hand appeared a large black mace that has the same spike-like design as the Purgatory Armor. The mace was larger than Erza herself with six large spikes running down the edge, getting progressively larger as they reach the hook end of the weapon.

"This is the most powerful armour in your collection? Such a brutish weapon as well. You don't seriously expect sheer brute force to defeat me do you?"

Erza leapt at Ikaruga, letting out a thundering roar. She lifted the mace over her head and brought it down, however, Ikaruga easily jumped backwards, dodging the attack. Part of the bridge was ripped apart while a wall of water from the pond below was thrown up from Erza's powerful slash.

Titania slashed the weapon down in front of her, sending a strong gust of air at Ikaruga. The woman simply sighed with disappointment and slashed her katana at the gust causing the wooden boards of the bridge to be ripped apart and reduced to splinters as the attack was deflected.

"You are letting your emotions rule you, you charge at me like a wild animal instead of a trained warrior."

Erza growled and leapt into the air letting out a battle cry as she came back down at Ikaruga, intending to strike her. However, Assassin responded by swiftly swiping at Erza before landing behind her opponent. The Fairy Queen screamed as her Purgatory Armor shattered into pieces, leaving her with only a few tattered articles of black cloth as she fell to her knees.

"Even after the death of your friend, you continue to hold back. Why? What is it that makes you hesitate to draw your holy sword even now?" Ikaruga inquired, although she seemed to be talking mostly to herself as if not expecting an answer "I can sense fear, but fear of what exactly?"

"If I draw that sword, I'll be acknowledging that I am a king again," Erza replied, unsure as to why she was even talking to the Assassin. "But I've failed as a king so many times before, what if I fail again?"

"I will give you some modified advice I once gave you on those temple steps. When it comes to blades and life do not let your mind wander to what comes later." Ikaruga told her "You are so busy fretting over your past and fearing over the future that you are incapable of focusing on the present and it has made you someone I do not wish to fight."

"What do you mean by that?" Erza demanded angrily, she looked shocked as Ikaruga put her sword away. "What are you doing? Stand and fight."

"Do I have your permission to leave this place?" Ikaruga asked.

"No, stand and fight me."

"Fighting you would be like picking on a crying child in a sandbox, frankly, this battle makes me feel like a bully rather than a warrior." Ikaruga sighed "So how about it?"

"Yes, you may leave." Erza turned around at the familiar voice and saw Lucy standing at the entrance she and Sho had come through.

"Hey wait." Erza protested as Ikaruga ignored her and walked past Lucy making to leave.

"Etherion is to fire in about fifteen minutes, I have no desire to be killed as an Assassin." Ikaruga stated, "In this new world of possibilities I intend to write my own legend and earn my place in the Throne of Heroes that way, that is the goal of this new life granted to me."

Ikaruga paused as she came shoulder to shoulder with Lucy.

"She is on the very edge of the knife; I cannot give her the push she needs but perhaps you can provide it," Assassin said in a low voice. "What's this?" The assassin inquired as Lucy handed her an envelope with a golden seal on it.

"An invitation to work for Lady Kin, she'd be a far better employer than a dark guild. I think she can provide you with a weapon that could become your Noble Phantasm." Lucy replied.

"I see, thank you perhaps I shall take you up on that offer," Ikaruga said with a smile as she made to leave the Tower.

"Assassin come back here-AGH!" Erza made to give chase but was sent backwards as a nameless sword impacted on the bridge in her path and exploded.

"Sorry, my dear but you should know that when I see something I want I have no problems taking it," Lucy said with a smirk as the Gate of Babylon opened up behind her, countless weapons ready to be fired.

Sha Nagba Imuru had told her that the Saber before her had come from the Fifth Grail War where the Faker had fallen for Tokiomi's brat. This meant that while she had a chance to capture Saber's affection's she could not afford for her to keep weakening herself, this meant she had to be cruel to be kind.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up," Simon said to Natsu as he carried him up several flights of stairs heading ever upwards towards the throne room where Jellal was waiting.

"The last thing I remember is flying around in circles," Natsu said suddenly looking like he was going to puke.

"Seriously? Just the memory makes you sick!?"

"Bleh."

"Well after that you were eaten by the owl. Luckily Gray was able to save you."

"Ah great."

"He defeated the owl but he was badly wounded during the fight. You friend was taking him to a safer place."

"No way you gotta be kidding me! I lost to that owl freak but Gray was able to beat him?!"

"I wouldn't exactly say that you lost…it's more like you were swallowed."

"It doesn't matter what happened he's still going to hold this over my head for at least the next month! Man, this sucks!"

"You're missing the point.."

"I won't stand for this! I demand a rematch! Bring that bird brain back and let me show him what I've got!"

"We don't have time for that kind of nonsense right now."

"I don't want to be rude but do I know you?"

"I'm Simon, I was friends with Erza back when we were kids."

"Oh, in that case, it's nice to meet ya." Natsu greeted him. "Hey, are you ok big guy?" Natsu asked as Simon clutched his side.

"Don't worry about me I'm fine, that owl managed to get a lucky shot in, I'm not the warrior once was. I just got word from Wally, he and Milianna found Juvia wandering around, she's fine but she was looking for Gray." Simon informed him. I sent a telepathic message to the others to take Gray and Juvia and get as far away from the Tower as possible."

"I didn't get to do anything!"

"But I've heard nothing from Sho, so I don't know about Erza nor can I tell where Lucy is."

"I'm sure you aware that she and Jellal have quite a history. It's as if there destined to fight each other. I'm worried about her because Jellal's stronger than she knows and with his apparent insanity that been able to take root in his mind for all these years he's unpredictable."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Lucy this is not the time get out of my way!" Erza demanded.

"Just how do you plan on making me?" Lucy asked aiming the gate's weapons at the Fairy Queen. "You refused to draw your Holy Sword against even that Assassin when she cut down your friend right in front of you, so either you friends aren't that important to you or your weak, the way I see it this is a golden opportunity for me to secure you and make you my bride, I'm sure after few years of torment you'll come around."

"Never, I will never submit to likes of you-ack!" Erza tried summoning a sword only for it to be shot out her hand by one of the Noble Phantasms from the Gate and then sent to the ground by another sword which scraped her chest.

"Those worthless scraps of metal cannot stand up to my treasures. I thought you would have learnt this by now." Lucy smirked folding her arms.

Erza growled at the smug expression on Lucy's face as she pulled herself to her feet. She tensed as she saw more weapons at the ready, a golden glow enveloping them.

"Do your best to avoid them, if you do well, they will only impale your arms and legs."

"Ku-gah…!"The Noble phantasms rain down upon her, creating small wounds and great pain nothing crippling or fatal.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

In the throne room, Jellal knocked over the piece that symbolised Ikaruga.

"So Ikaruga has decided to quit the game, but it seems Lucy Heartfillia has decided to pick up where she left off," Jellal commented looking at the battle.

Erza could be scene trying to re-quip swords only to fail as they were destroyed by the Noble Phantasms that Lucy kept shooting at her. She even tried coat one with the Invisible Air to try and get it to withstand the barrage, but it only lasted a few seconds longer before it too was destroyed.

What confused Jellal was the Heartfillia girl's intentions. She didn't appear to bear any malice towards Erza and yet here she was using an attack that could kill if a single mistake was made on Erza's part. As the battle went on Erza dodging more and deflecting, but the weapons seemed to become more numerous.

"This does make things far more amusing; the game would be so dreadfully boring without diversions like this."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Erza found herself on the ground, waves of pain crashing through her body. She had failed dodge but a single weapon and this had caused her to be impacted with many others creating more wounds on her body. Even so, she fought through it struggling to stand once again.

"I think the only way to make you submit is to crush your spirit completely." Lucy sighed approaching Erza "To do that I think I need to show you the extent of my power tell me have you seen Ea before?"

"Ea?" Erza wracked her brain, none of the memories of Saber could tell her of any weapon with such a name.

"It is my ultimate Noble Phantasm far superior in power to your Excalibur whereas you may only destroy fortresses Ea has the power to destroy an entire world."

An Anti-World Noble Phantasm? A bluff….no for this golden knight there was no need to bluff, beyond the Gate of Babylon were treasure's beyond count so the existence of such a weapon was not impossible.

"Here I'll show you it's power." Lucy knelt and placed her finger upon Erza's forehead "I'll show you a memory of mine which took place in August of the Year X777 during the Alvarez invasion."

Erza had heard of the invasion of course but it was short lived, the Council had stopped it with threats of Etherion and another secret weapon which forced them to retreat. Pain shot through her brain, a memory came into view it was like she was watching a movie rather experiencing it from a point of view but that made it no less real.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

_The soldiers of Alvarez all laughed to themselves as they stood one of the Fiore's beaches. Leading the expedition was one of the members of the Spriggan 12 known as Meros. He was famed for his impenetrable barrier magic. There were no wizards on record who had ever managed to penetrate his barriers._

"Sir." a soldier came to Meros and saluted. "We've secured the beachhead."

"That's fine," Meros smirked. "MEN SOON WE WILL MARCH ON MAGNOLIA AND FAIRY HEART WILL BE TAKEN FOR EMPEROR SPRIGGAN!"

The soldiers of Alvarez all cheered thoughts of glory and praise from the emperor filling their minds. Above them on a cliff stood a little girl, no older than eleven clicked her tongue in annoyance at the rabble below her. Her waist length golden hair swayed along with her plain white dress.

"How annoying." while her voice was not shouting, it was loud enough that it got the attention of the some of the soldiers on the beach, in turn, their comrades looked to see what the fuss was about.

"Hey, get lost you little brat!"

"Yeah you wanna die kid?"

They yelled threats and insults, but the girl was not fazed in the slightest, after all, what did the mighty have to fear from yapping dogs whose bark was far bigger than their bite.

Meros sighed looked to see what was going on. He saw a little girl atop a cliff just in time to see the sunhat on her head be carried away by the wind. She had piercing eyes the colour of blood. This unnerved him for a moment but ultimately he chose to ignore her, the men could do what they wanted to some brat who was too curious for her own good.

"I did, in fact, have other plans today." Her voice stopped Meros from going back into his tent. "My mother and I were going to climb the highest mountain in our estate together. Instead, I am here, cleaning up trash that has washed up on this beach."

'What is she talking about?" Meros wondered 'Doesn't she know who we are?'

"For the sin of interrupting my daily plans...you will perish here." She spoke with a confidence that didn't belong to little girl...and yet Meros couldn't shake the fear that her words inspired in him. Like a god or royalty had sentenced him to a death he couldn't avoid.

A golden ripple appeared next to her head, out of it appeared a golden hilt. The girl grasped it and pulled out a sword. It had a grip, handguard, and is the same length as a longsword, the "blade" itself and the tip of the sword, spun in a spiral shape, are dull. It has the shape of a cylindrical, drill-shaped pillar made up of three independently rotating segments engraved with crimson cuneiform lettering that spin slowly in alternating direction like querns, the middle segment spinning clockwise and the top and bottom segments spinning counterclockwise.

"Now awaken and exterminate them Ea." She gave the command and the three sections of the sword began to spin faster and faster. "Begone from my sight insects, ENUMA ELISH!"

A red vortex of energy steadily approached the beach, affording no escape to souls trapped on it. Meros unbreakable barrier shattered like glass before it. The star which split Heaven and Earth continued consuming the beach and the army upon it.

_Eventually, the power vanished from sight, leaving nothing. No remains, no debris, no corpses, there was no evidence that a beach even existed in the first place as the ocean rushed in the reclaim the space left behind._

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The Fairy Queen was left stunned upon exiting the memory. That sword had utterly decimated that army and wiped the beach they were standing upon out of existence.

"I have no intention of using it on you of course," Lucy told her walking away from the fallen fairy. "No, my target will be this tower and all those within."

"You wouldn't!" Erza cried as an image of the tower being destroyed by the red vortex of energy and killing Simon, Jellal and the others burned itself into her mind.

"Oh but I will, and I won't stop there in order to destroy your spirit completely I think I'll destroy Fairy Tail as well."

"What!"

"Yes they've run their course and now I'm bored of them, plus killing your close family will be more than enough to crush your spirit and make you my broken bride," Lucy said letting out an evil cackle as she walked to the other end of the bridge. "And no one has the power to stop me, certainly not you rejecting yourself as you do, they'll just be more failures to your name made worse by the fact that you are too afraid to even try."

From behind her Lucy heard the swirling of magical energy, like a tornado. Looking behind her she saw a whirlwind had completely enveloped Erza.

"I should thank you," Erza said from within the torrent of air. "You've helped me to gaze inside my own soul thinking I would find nothing but fear and regrets but you were wrong."

"Then you clearly have gazed in the wrong place!" Lucy said to her loudly, she suddenly covered her eyes as the swirling air exploded outwards.

Now in full view was Erza but she was wearing a shining armour silver like armour with an old style dress, made from old-fashioned blue cloth underneath. The Fairy Queen's eyes which were once dull and between colours now shone like emeralds, solid and with no fear or hesitation, in her hands, was Excalibur, shining the light of the room not sheathed in the Invisible Air.

"When I was king no matter how hard things got, no matter how powerful the foe I never flinched or ran away because they might be stronger than me. I protected Camelot and my people without regard for myself. I think it's only fair that I afford these new people that I call family and friends the same courtesy!" As Titania said these words Lucy's eye's widened as an image of the blonde haired Saber and Erza Scarlet merged into one. It seemed as though Erza had now completely accepted herself. Yet there was still a small chance of her going back, so Lucy had to see this through to the end.

"You draw your piece of Fairy made junk and think you've won!" Lucy roared opening the Gate of Babylon "ONLY I THE ONE TRUE KING HAVE ANY RIGHT TO SAY WHEN IT'S OVER!"

A few weapons fired from the Gate but Erza was already sprinting forwards and batted them away with the Sword of Promised Victory which now had a golden shine to it.

"EX-"

Lucy's eye's widened, a chakram is easily sliced apart, a sword deflected and even a shield which would withstand blows from monsters is shattered to pieces. As Erza got within striking range Lucy's only thought was.

'I'm going be feeling this tomorrow.'

"-CALIBUR!"

The golden sword was swung down, the armour protecting her crumbled before it as it left a large gash across Lucy's chest sending the King of Heroes smashing into the railing and leaning back on it as she fell to the ground.

"See I knew you could do it." Lucy said as she coughed up some blood "You just need a push and now look at you, you can finally face Jellal with nothing holding you back."

A gasp and look of realisation it seemed Erza had caught on.

"This was an act?" She asked kneeling down to examine Lucy's wound.

"Of course, it was, but I needed to make it convincing hence the memory otherwise you might not have gained the courage to accept yourself," Lucy told her with a smile as blood dribbled from her mouth.

"Your wound." Erza paused as she saw a jewelled flask protruding from a small ripple in the air.

"It's a healing potion, do you mind?" Erza obliged and opened the flash pouring its contents into Lucy's mouth for a few seconds before a golden hand stopped her.

"Take the rest for yourself, best to be at full strength when fighting Jellal," Lucy told her.

The large gash on Lucy's chest began steaming and slowly shrinking away. Nodding Erza drank the contents of the flask and her own wounds began to disappear, her magic energy was also replenished.

"I was wrong about you," Erza said as the flash returned to the gate and she began walking away to go up to the top of the Tower. "You really are human King of Heroes."

"Hmph that's mean, I have never stopped being human." Lucy mumbled in reply "The difference between me and other mongrels is that I embrace all of humanities aspects the beautiful and the ugly, the good and the bad. There is no one more human than me."


	17. Excalibur

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.**

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"So you can do that for me?" Lucy asked as she looked into the communication Lacrima in her hand and spoke with the person on the other end.

"…."

"So why didn't you tell me that you were a Heroic Spirit reincarnate?" The girl inquired.

"…."

"Just because I never asked isn't a reason not to tell me." Lucy stated with annoyance.

"…"

"Yes, it is fortunate you were already on a ship in the area. Thank you for your assistance in this matter." Lucy said before the connection was terminated "This should stir things up, the Council will be shitting themselves when they see this."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Near the waters of Caelum, a ship sailed straight into the waters of the country. It's captain having a discussion with the woman who commanded him.

"My Lady are you sure?" The captain asked.

"Yes, head to these co-ordinates." The woman replied, "There's something I have to do."

"Yes, ma'am. Alright, we're changing course!" The captain yelled as he began barking orders.

Satisfied that her will was being done the woman headed into her quarters, a pair of fox ears which poked of locks of pink hair twitching as she did so.

As the ship turned around and headed into the waters of Caelum, a twisted tower came into view just on the horizon. It wouldn't take long to get there.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Erza made her way to the throne room, the same place that Jellal had rescued her from all those years ago. Now there he sat in a large stone throne opposite the door.

"Don't tell me the game is over already..." Jellal sighed with disappointment.

"This game is over Jellal." Erza told him, pointing Excalibur, which was once again sheathed within the invisible air, at him. "Now come with me, you need help."

"Between the moment of our birth and the moment of our death there is only that game of emotions we call life..." Jellal responded standing up and turning to walk away around the room, his face concealed. "What could be more dreary than simply existing day after day...?" Eventually, he turned to face her, deep within those eyes filled with madness was a single point of light, a shred of sanity which still remained, the real Jellal was still in there. "It's been a long time, hasn't it Erza?"

"Wally and Milliana are no longer under your influence, it is over."

"That's fine with me. Now that the Tower of Heaven has been completed I have no need for them."

"The Etherion will soon take care of that."

"Ah yes, the Etherion." Jellal chuckled darkly. "I have nothing to fear from it at all. Let the Council fire it, by all means, I'll survive no matter what!"

"The way you're acting….are you saying you've got a way to block the Etherion?"

"Oh no, the Etherion will rain down on us of that you can be assured."

"Well then…" Erza took a battle stance. "That means I have to defeat you within five minutes, leaving me with five more to drag you out and get as far away from here as possible."

"Well then, COME AND GET ME!" A blob-like sphere appeared in Jellal's hand with red lines covering it in a strange pattern.

' _That's Darkness Magic!_ ' Erza thought before dodging numerous dark tentacles which smashed the ground they impacted on.

She went on the offensive and leapt at Jellal using the invisible air as a booster. However, Jellal was not incapable himself and quickly dodged out of the way causing Erza to crush his throne. He countered by sending dark blasts at her, forcing to move out of the way. The blasts obliterated what was left of the throne and the game board that had been near it and blasting a large hole in the wall allowing the dying sunlight to stream in.

"Why are you back?" Erza turned and charged slashing at him again only to miss as he jumped backwards. He then brought up his right hand and fired a beam of purple energy, forcing Erza to jump back. When her feet touched a crystal spike jutting from the giant lacrima in the centre of the room, she used it to propel herself back toward him. Jellal narrowly escaped the powerful slash from Erza, which sliced a piece of the crystal off.

"Holding back whatever do you mean?" Jellal asked mockingly dancing around a couple fo slashes and sending dark blasts at her.

"You know exactly what I mean!" Erza growled as her magic resistance easily took the magic blasts. "Why aren't you using your armour or Arondight? Both would give you a far better chance of defeating me!"

"Why INDEED?!" Jellal crushing a dark sphere in his hand.

From beneath Erza dark purple tendrils sprouted and quickly bound her, morphing into a spherical cage.

"You've been slacking off all these years." Jellal said approaching the sphere. "Sealing away Excalibur and your heroic spirit powers have made you rusty and weak. Even without using Arondight you were never a match for me."

He turned to walk away but was suddenly blasted into a wall as a magic energy burst outwards destroying the sphere from within.

"Damn it, I forgot about that annoying Prana Burst," Jellal growled as he stood up, only to be tackled to the ground and pinned there by Erza.

"It's over Jellal, you are coming with me." she hissed, pressing the tip of her sword into his neck.

"No, we're not done yet. I still have to sacrifice you to revive Zeref." Jellal growled at her.

"No, even with my sacrifice you wouldn't be able to do it because you don't have the magic energy required." Erza told him. "You could gather every single wizard on the continent and still not have enough energy to activate this tower. I don't know why you haven't run or where you plan to get that energy from but I don't care, now come on." Erza tried to pull Jellal up by force but he resisted.

"There's something else, I need to tell you." Jellal said with a grin.

"What?" Erza growled with annoyance.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

In the Magic Council Headquarters, all the preparations for firing Etherion were nearly done. Four differently coloured lacrima were surrounding a larger central one. Each of the four lacrima had a magic circle the same colour as itself pointed at the larger lacrima. The frog-like employee's of the council ran around making reports.

"The final phase for firing Etherion has been completed."

"We have deployed the Satellite Square."

"Co-Ordinates are locked."

"Magic fusion appears to be stable."

"Start the countdown."

"Let us pray." Org said bowing his head, as did his colleagues

"Let us pray." Michello repeated.

"For the innocent." The employee's behind him all said.

"Let us pray." Ultear spoke.

"For the end." Seigrain said.

"Wow, so you're really firing Etherion huh?" Everyone turned and saw a pair of Wizards standing at the doors. One had blue hair, red eyes and deep ultramarine full body tights.

"God Serena, what are you doing here?" Org inquired.

"I was in the neighbourhood and heard that something warranted Etherion." God Serena replied with a shrug. "Draculos is here too…huh?" The Lancer looked around only to fail to see his compatriot. "Hey, Draculos turn off that invisibility crap will ya?"

The man materialised next to God Serena. He had red tied back hair, a far eastern type robe that looked like flames.

"Practice makes perfect; I prefer not to get rusty," Draculos told him.

"Whatever." God Serena sighed as he watched the spectacle unfold.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Near the waters of the tower, there was an urgent knock at the door of the woman who commanded the ship.

"Ma'am we're here!" the captain said bursting through the door impatiently.

"Oh good." She said standing up and getting out onto the deck.

The woman covered her eyes, her ears twitching in annoyance as a bright light was focused on the tower from the sky.

"Excellent we're right on time." She said throwing something like a frisbee at the tower.

"Ma'am we need to leave right now if we hope to escape, that light is the Magic Councils Etherion." The captain yelled causing the crew to mumble fearfully.

"It will be fine, hold this position." She ordered carelessly.

"But-" The captain was cut off by a dark glare from the pink haired woman her fox tail swishing angrily behind her.

"If you move, then outrunning Etherion will be the least of your worries." She warned him.

Seeing no choice, the Captain could only pray that the end would be swift and ordered his crew to hold position, reluctantly they complied not wanting the wrath of the woman who ordered their captain upon them.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Erza glared down at Jellal in annoyance, however before she could drag him up by force his free hand suddenly gripped her arm which held his.

"Wha-?"

"I'll be taking my Noble Phantasm back now." Jellal told he with a grin "The one I gave you all those years ago, Knight of Honour!"

Erza was overcome by pain as the red energy of the Noble Phantasm began flowing out her. The pain so great she was forced to her knees, and barely acknowledge the trembling of the tower, nor the brilliant white light which flooded into the room from the hole in the roof.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Back in the Magic Council's Headquarters, the council was standing on a nearby balcony, observing their target through a large, floating lacrima in the centre of the massive chamber.

"We pray to the sacred light for forgiveness! Let us fire the Etherion at once!" Org chanted raising his staff.

Outside the Magic Council building, the four differently coloured lacrima towers began emitting powerful surges of magic energy which converged on the centre lacrima, and then it fired a massive ball of bright, white energy into the sky.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Lucy looked out of a window and saw a small ship on the horizon just before a white light blocked her view and smirked.

"It looks like you made it, let's see how they like this." She said.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"No, this light." Simon sighed as he and Natsu kept running upwards "We didn't make it in time."

"ERZA!" Natsu cried out for his friend.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

A brilliant white beam of pure magical energy fired from the Satellite Square in space. It pierced the atmosphere and came down on the Tower of Heaven, engulfing it a blinding white light.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Back in Era the Magic Council's amphibious employees were all scrambling in their floating magical chairs to confirm the destruction of the Tower of Heaven after the Etherion was fired.

"The Etherion has impacted the target." A council employee notified.

"Was the target successfully destroyed? I need confirmation!" A second employee demanded.

"The density of the Ethernano fusion is…decreasing?!" a third employee said with confusion.

Back up on the balconies, the faces of the Magic Council members were rather downcast.

"Who knows how many innocent people might have been inside that tower…" Org said covering his mouth.

"But they were there for the sole purpose of resurrecting Zeref." Michello said attempting to comfort him. "Their sacrifice had to be made to save the lives of others."

"I understand that, Michello, but it's still heartbreaking all the same. I sincerely doubt the victims' families will be comforted by that reasoning."

"Something's wrong, the Etherion Blast hasn't impacted!" A council employee notified causing nearly everyone to look up in shock.

"What?!" Org yelled, "Whats going on?"

"Restoring visual feed…"

After a short moment, the lacrima that had been displaying the Tower of Heaven to the council, which had gone dark after the Etherion was fired, now showed them the great white light of Etherion hanging above the Tower. But something was wrong, the part of the light nearest tower appeared to be being drawn into something just at the tip of the tower.

Within a few seconds, the entire blast vanished, sucked into whatever had stopped the blast dead.

"Zoom in on the top of the tower." God Serena ordered.

The top of the tower was enhanced on the lacrima, zooming further in until finally, they saw it. There floating just above the tallest spire of the tower was...

"A mirror?!" Org yelled with disbelief.

Indeed floating there was an ornate, old-fashioned golden mirror which shone like a beacon pulsing with a white light of the energy it had absorbed from the Etherion blast, for a few moments before the energy settled within it.

"Not just any mirror," Draculos said his eyes narrowing on the image.

"Yep, that's a Noble Phantasm." God Serena told them.

Suddenly the Mirror began flying away.

"Follow it," Belno ordered.

The lacrima followed the mirror as it flew through the air, eventually coming to rest in orbit of a woman standing on a ship. She had pink hair, yellow eyes, fox ears and a tail. She turned a said something to a man who was clearly the captain before vanishing inside.

"Wait that ship's flag look!" Michello yelled.

"That's the crest of the Alvarez empire!" Org yelled. "What's one of their ships doing so close to the borders of Ishgar!"

The ship suddenly turned and began sailing away, no doubt heading back to Alvarez own waters.

' _Damn it, no matter I can still salvage this._ ' Ultear thought clenched her fists in anger.

"Look at the Tower." God Serena said.

Everyone did so and watched as the building appeared to crumble from the shockwave of the blast above when the entire shell crumbled away revealing its true form, a giant jagged Lacrima Crystal.

"It's a giant Lacrima." An employee yelled.

"A lacrima that big could have absorbed even Etherion." Draculos said.

"Damn that Jellal he played me." Seigrain growled before looking to side in shock "What-who are-" Suddenly Seigrain's thought projection vanished.

"Seigrain?"

"Damn it all, was he attacked?"

' _Good Jellal we can play the long con, and start this all over again._ ' Ultear thought with a dark smirk, unaware of the look God Serena was giving her.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

As she recovered from the immense pain Erza found her surroundings had changed. The ground, walls and ceiling were all made of a crystalline substance.

"A lacrima?" Erza said as she began standing up.

"WHAT IS THIS SHIT!" Jellal roared from nearby. "WHO BLOCKED MY ETHERION?!"

"Hello." Jellal and Erza looked to see Lucy sitting on a Lacrima crystal with a smug grin on her face.

"You!" Jellal growled furiously giving Lucy a dark glare. "How?"

"I called a friend who happened to be nearby." Lucy explained "I could have done it myself but why do things yourself when you have others to do them for you. My friend possesses a very powerful magic mirror which is her Noble Phantasm. With it stopped the Etherion is no problem for her."

"You BITCH!" Jellal was furious, black armour began materialising over his body, the only thing that did not appear was the helmet this due to the sword now in his hands, Arondight his most powerful Noble Phantasm which sealed his other two Noble Phantasms when in use.

The enraged knight leapt at the golden king, mad fury in his eyes, only for his sword to be stopped by Excalibur which was now no longer sheathed in the invisible air.

"Not so fast Jellal we have unfinished business," Erza said to him coolly.

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU ALL!" Jellal bellowed pushing against Erza who pushed back with just as much strength.

Lucy watched from her seat, resting her head on both her hands as the two knights began exchanging blows. Steel clashed against steel and the King of Knights and the Knight of the Lake crossed swords. The first few blows were merely probes, each testing the other's defences, looking for an opening.

Then things became more intense, more superhuman as Jellal and Erza's blows became faster and stronger, the mere shockwaves from their exchange began causing parts of the ceiling and floor of the tower to crack and shatter.

After meeting again and unable to overpower the other Jellal and Erza pushed away from each other. Erza back flipping in mid-air and using a pillar as a springboard while Jellal did the same off a wall.

Erza noticed that Jellal's blows became stronger and faster, this caught her off guard so when they met Erza was forced onto the defensive as Jellal began forcing her to back off to try and regain her footing. But the man once lauded as the Perfect Knight was no fool and relentlessly pressed his advantage forcing her right back to the edge of the tower, where only the ocean and sharp spikes of lacrima waited below.

Jellal locked swords with her and pressed hard against her. Erza found herself being bent backwards over the edge.

"Time to fall, my king," Jellal told her mockingly.

Erza responded by gathering the invisible air around Excalibur and forcing it to explode. Jellal was forced to back off allowing Erza regain her footing and reposition herself away from the ledge.

"You're mimicking my prana burst aren't you?" Erza observed as she had noted the sudden release of magic energy whenever he attacked. "It's crude but still effective."

"Observant as always, in my past life, I didn't have magic power like you did. But what I did have, was a whole lifetime to study you. I didn't get to be called the Perfect Knight by being a fool." Jellal responded twirling Arondight in his hands before resuming his stance.

However, before they could continue fighting-

"FIRE DRAGONS-" Natsu came flying at Jellal from behind a flaming fist ready.

"NATSU NO STAY BACK!" Erza called out in warning.

"IRON FI-GAH!" Natsu's attack was stopped dead Jellal suddenly lashed out and caught the back of Natsu's head with his gauntlet and without even taking his eyes of Erza planted Natsu firmly into the wall, large cracks spider webbing outwards from where Natsu and had been planted.

"Idiot." Lucy sighed rolling her eyes.

"I never did like loudmouths," Jellal growled suddenly looking at Natsu who fell from the wall and onto the ground, clearly unconscious. "So how about I do us all a favour and shut you up for good?!"

The knight of the lake raised Arondight and brought it down meaning to end the dragon slayers life, only for the blade to be stopped by another. It was not Excalibur but rather its sister, Excalibur Galatine.

"Simon." Jellal actually seemed pleased that the other man was there.

"It's time to stop this old friend, how many times must your honour stained because of another?" Simon asked, firmly keeping his blade and Arondight locked. "Lancelot… Jellal I know you can hear me. This life is our second chance to be true knights again. Don't let whoever is controlling you squander your second chance!"

"Quit your babbling!" Jellal growled kicking Simon away and slashing at him, his slash only just blocked. "I am the one doing the controlling here, no one controls me!" Jellal emphasised his words with angry strikes at Simon who was barely keeping up. "You're still only half a heroic spirit. But even if you had your fill power you would still be no match me especially not now that the sun has set."

Simon was forced back by Jellals relentless offensive, more and more until finally, Simon managed to lock blades with him again.

"This is nostalgic isn't it?" Jellal commented pushing Arondight against Galatine to try and overpower Simon who held his ground. "A lifetime ago when you attacked in fury, I was able to delay you until the sun had set so I could finally kill you. It seems history is repeating itself albeit with a few changes."

Erza could only watch the battle, Jellal was keeping her within sight. If she tried to attack she had no doubt he'd put Simon into the way of her attack. So she was forced to wait until Jellal had an opening.

"Lancelot we all share blame for the downfall of Camelot," Simon said. "I was let vengeance over the fate of my brothers rule me instead of thinking about what was best for my king. You had affair with the Queen and betrayed your oath to your king, Mordred just wanted the throne, and the King was incapable of understanding the feelings of her people. We all share fault and now IT'S TIME FOR US TO STOP RUNNING AND START OWNING OUR MISTAKES!"

Suddenly Simon head-butted Jellal causing the other man to stumble backwards. Simon immediately went on the offensive, this time, Jellal was struggling to keep up, still disoriented from the blow to his head.

"Yet despite your betrayal, our king still considered you a comrade," Simon yelled as he forced Jellal to keep stepping back. "She called upon your help, despite what you did. So if the king thinks you are worthy of being called a comrade, then you are a still a Knight of the Round Table. Think back, we stood side by side throughout all the good times and the bad. Despite how it all ended there had to be times you didn't curse, surely you didn't despise your entire time as a Knight THINK!"

Simon slammed his head against Jellal's own again knocking the man off balance. Suddenly an image passed through Jellal's mind's eye. It was himself, preparing to race in disguise so that a friend's honour might be retained. Another was a great feast being held with all the knights in attendance before they were to set out to retrieve the Holy Grail, another was his duel with the Copper Knight.

The memories good and bad began forcing themselves to the surface. In his past life and his present one, sharing food with Erza and Simon before the rebellion. Being told stories by old Rob…no Galahad. Jellal could stand it no more, even as a sinister looking symbol appeared in his right eye, Arondight clattered to the ground as Jellal gripped his head, letting out a cry of pain which echoed throughout the Tower of Heaven.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Back at the Etherion control centre in Era the Council was in chaos over what had happened.

"We should pursue that ship!" Leiji yelled, "Who knows what they'll do with the energy of the Etherion."

"No, if we attack it will be an act of war." Yajima objected.

"You're right but what if they decide to use that power against us?" Belno cried.

"We've already fired Etherion if we attack an Alvarez ship unprovoked it will mean war." Org sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose.

In the midst of the arguing over what to do, Ultear placed a hand against her head, in an attempt to placate the throbbing against her mind, which felt like a dragon had decided to sit on it.

' _What's going on?_ ' Ultear growled internally ' _My control over Jellal is slipping, No!_ '

Her spell over Jellal was starting to break. Normally this wouldn't be a problem ashes could simply go to him and reinforce the spell, the problem was that she would blow her cover on the Council if left now, plus the amount of willpower he was rallying against her was so enormous that it seemed like she might lose control if she didn't concentrate on the connection and subdue his will fast.

She grimaced visibly as another migraine hit her, forcing her to focus more. She could subdue Jellal but the problem was that the more focus she put into doing that then the more she spaced out from reality, and if she wasn't careful the council could get suspicious of her. She knew that old goat Yajima was probably onto her, judging by the scowls he was giving Seigrain earlier.

"Got a problem witch?" Ultear growled, she hated being called a witch looking up to see who dared it was none other than that-

"Miserable dog, go bark for a treat up someone else's tree." Ultear growled as her migraine intensified, idly she noticed the council had gone silent, no doubt due to the fact God Serena had summoned Gae Bolg.

"I am not a dog." God Serena growled his eye twitching. "I've been investigating corruption within the magic council, it was surprising to know that the old geezer Crawford is a greedy bastard, but you knowing your identity, being a traitor should be second nature to you shouldn't it Medea, princess of Colchis?"

"So you figured out I'm a heroic spirit reincarnate too bully for you." Ultear snapped "What does that change exactly? I'm still a member of the magic council I'm entitled to some privacy."

"Not when you betray us like this." God Serena replied hold up a recording lacrima and setting it to play.

On the Lacrima for everyone to see was Ultear in her office talking into communication lacrima.

" _Report Ultear." An older voice from the communication lacrima ordered._

" _Things are going well." The Ultear on the lacrima stated, "Jellal is preparing the final phase now, soon he'll have the council running around like headless chickens."_

" _Good, by the time the Council gets grip on the Tower of Heaven incident we Grimoire Heart will already have the final piece we need for our plans." The man in the lacrima stated. "Will you be able to buy the time we need?"_

" _Yes, my control over Jellal has held firm for all these years, it will hold long enough to keep the council occupied." Ultear stated_

" _Does anyone suspect?"_

" _Just that old goat Yajima, but the others won't listen to him, not the chairman, none of them. Especially not with his past with Fairy Tail and the annoyance they been towards the council lately."_

" _Excellent. I will update you as soon as we have what we need. Be prepared to leave quickly and do some damage if you can on the way out."_

" _Of course Master Hades." Ultear said as the communication ended._

"Ultear what is the meaning of this!" Org demanded as everyone stared at her with shock or dismay.

"How did you get that?" Ultear demanded ignoring the rest of the council. "I made sure there were no spells, or anything to spy on me."

"I hid a miniature recording lacrima with a few concealment runes." God Serena replied smugly. "The magic power was so insignificant that you never even noticed. Time to surrender."

"You…." Ultear trembled with rage as Gae Bolg pointed at her. All God Serena had to do was incant its name and she would be dead.

"God Serena watch out!" Draculos warned.

"Huh, what?" instinctively the Lancer turned his head to see magic circles appear at random pointed throughout the room, including one near his chest. "Oh shit!"

"YOU CAN ALL GO TO HELL WITHOUT ME!" Ultear screamed as magic energy beams were released from each of the circles.

The beams devastated the room, causing everyone within to try and flee Ultears wrath. Sadly, not all were fortunate, as Leiji and some of the frog employees were vaporised by one of the beams while other beams kept going, demolishing the lacrima pillars outside which made up the main part of Etherion.

Draculos leapt into action he lunged hoping to subdue the witch, but her magecaft was quicker as one the beams managed to clip the side of the Master of the Demon fist, this second and the chaos was enough for Ultear to teleport away but not before he managed to wound her side. God Serena, caught at point blank range was not so fortunate. He survived thanks to his magic resistance diluting the blast but he was still injured and sent crashing through the giant lacrima in the centre of the room.

Eventually, the beams all stopped and the collapsing building settled down. When the dust cleared Ultear was gone, but a thought projection still remained.

"So you figured me out, that doesn't change anything." Ultear told the council. "Jellal can still use His Noble Phantasm to power the Tower of Heaven, so I'm afraid you are not out of the woods yet councillors. Zeref can still be revived, so you have a choice, waste resources chasing me or try to stop the most evil wizard of all time from being revived. Your move."

With that, the thought projection vanished leaving only Ultear's laughter echoing throughout the half destroyed magic council headquarters.

"Damn it all!" Org growled pounding the dirt as he tried to stand up. "We've been played like fools."

"What should we do?" Belno coughed trying to stand up after tripping over.

"Arrange for Rune Knights to be sent to the Tower of Heaven at once." Org ordered after a few seconds. "We cannot allow Jellal to energise the Tower of Heaven."

Those employees who returned after everything settled down rushed to carry out these new orders.

"But what about Ultear?" Michello asked

"She's gone; we will chase her later right now we must stop the R-System from being activated." Org said glancing at the burn mark where Leiji had previously been, now not even ashes remained of him.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Having fled to an old temple in the mountains of Northern Fiore Ultear, gasped as she tried to regain her breath after the strike by Draculos Hyberion.

"This isn't over." Ultear growled as she refocused on Jellal fully now that her attention wasn't split. "I didn't control him for eight years only to have my grip broken by this friendship-conquers-all nonsense. Hear me and obey Jellal!" Ultear chanted gathering her magical power.

Now this was no longer about the plan which had basically fulfilled its purpose of distracting the Magic Council, now it was a matter of pride.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Back at the top of the Tower Natsu was still unconscious, Lucy was still observing the scene with amusement while Erza stood behind Simon who had placed a hand on the shoulders of his friend who was holding his head and crying out in pain.

"Fight it old friend, I know you can." Simon encouraged placing Galatine on the ground to focus on his friend's wellbeing. "Back then we all made mistakes and all share fault in Camelot's fall; You, Me, The Queen, The King, Tristan, Morgan, Mordred, all of us. It's time we accepted our mistakes and move forward together. We have been given a second chance to start over, don't let someone else ruin it for you, not now!"

Whether Simon's words were working was anyone's guess, the pain Jellal was in could be a sign of him trying to be free, or his controller trying to reassert control over him. Veins and arteries emerged becoming visible over the boy's face as the pain grew and so did his cries. Jellal fell to his knees, one hand on his head the other firmly grasping at the crystalline floor. So focused on Jellal himself were Erza and Simon that they did not notice the red glow around the hand which clutched at the ground.

*SHNK* The sound of metal meeting flesh.

Erza gasped, Arondight was now stabbed through Simon's back going straight through his heart. The glowing hand clenched and the sword obeyed the telekinesis of its master and pushed through until it passed through Simon completely, flipping itself around in the air and presenting itself to Jellal who looked his friend in the eyes.

"SIMON!" Erza cried out as she went to the boy who fell to the ground, not even a full heroic spirit could survive such a wound without some sort of healing item or revival ability, something the Knight of the Sun did not possess.

Meeting Jellal gaze with his own the dying boy could see his old friends spirit in the eyes filled with madness, he could see the real Jellal crying out, an expression of regret and sadness on his face.

"Simon, stay with me come on." Erza made to try and stop the bleeding despite the futility of the action, but was stopped by Simon's hand clasping her own.

"It's better this way...now my essence will go to my sister and I can protect her now." Simon gasped as blood trickled out of his mouth, he was fading fast. "I have never once presumed to tell you what do you, but please my king….use the light and guide Lancelot back to our Round Table."

"HOLD ON, SIMON!" Erza cried but too late, as Galatine vanished and Simons body dissolved into small yellow sparks of light which dispersed into the air, a small white orb hung in the air for a few seconds before shooting off into the distance.

"I'm glad that fool is gone, good riddance," Jellal said derisively. "Now you are next King Arthur."

"Use the light? Alright Gawain, I'll show him the way as a king should." Erza vowed standing up and locking eyes with Jellal. "As for you, I don't know who you are or what you gain from this, but know that if I ever find you then I will make you pay for what you've done to my friends. That is not a threat, that is a promise!"

Erza held the Sword of Promised Victory in both hands, the blade now glowing with its signature golden light.

"You…. what do you think you're doing?" Jellal asked, his eyes wide at the Noble Phantasms power being invoked. "You'll vaporise Jellal at this range, you're bluffing."

"So are you the one who's been controlling Jellal?"

"What does it matter?" the possessed Jellal said, "Nothing has changed; you are all still going to die here!"

"I just need to guide him back with the light." Erza murmured "That's all."

"Well you have the light and as you can see plainly it's not working." Jellal cried lunging at her intending to strike her down.

"You wouldn't understand." Erza replied easily deflecting the attack and sending Arondight flying out of the Knights hand, but this time, instead of hitting the floor it dissolved, going back to whatever space Noble Phantasm went to await being summoned by their masters again. "Now Sir Lancelot, Jellal WAKE UP! EXCALIBUR!"

Erza lunged at her enemy, the possessed Jellal grinned as the sword on skimming his armour and plunged into the giant lacrima wall behind him.

"Haha….you missed."

"No I hit what I intended, now be gone and return Jellal to us." Erza commanded as she did so the golden light from Excalibur flowed out the blade and into the lacrima which immediately took on an incredible golden hue. The light was so bright shone from the floors, the walls, the ceiling, there was no escape.

As it shone into Jellal's eyes memories of past glories, failures, the good times and the bad, all of the experiences etched into his soul, past and present were all forced to the forefront of his mind. This time when the mind control spell broke the connection severed permanently, leaving a certain witch crying out in pain and surprise.

Erza caught Jellal as he fell to the ground exhausted, as the eight-year nightmare finally ended. She looked around as the tower began trembling and saw Lucy loading Natsu carelessly on her Vimana.

"I know your happy that he's free but I think you should celebrate later, it might be wise to escape before this tower explodes." Lucy told her with some urgency in her voice.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

On the makeshift raft within Juvia's bubble, Happy, Gray Millianna and Wally all waited with anticipation.

"It's so bright." Happy said as and the others had to avert their gaze from the now golden tower.

"Hey, morons." Gray looked up and saw Lucy hovering just them above with her Vimana, Erza and Natsu were aboard too. "Get on quickly that tower is going to blow sky high, you don't wanna be here when it does."

They all quickly got on the flying ship which soared away from the tower. Shafts of light began to escape from cracks within the lacrima before finally, it exploded, but instead of going outwards the energy shot upwards into the sky, blowing away any clouds for miles.

"That light…" Jellal mumbled as he opened his eyes to look at the display, tears falling from them. "I'm sorry everyone I wanted to stop but had no control, I'm so…" he fell unconscious again before he could finish.

"So is Jellal going to be ok?" Wally asked

"Yes, the spell that controlled his for all these years has finally been broken." Erza told them. "Our Jellal is back, safe and sound."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Further away aboard the Alvarez ship, a fox-eared woman, looked out of her cabin's window and stared at a golden light which shone in the distance. Nostalgic memories of the past coming to her mind.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Far away, in a forest near Crocus Kagura Mikazuchi sat alone at a campfire. She looked into the flames which danced before her eyes, bringing back memories of her brother before he was kidnapped.

"GAH!" She jumped back in surprise as a basketball sized white orb suddenly descended from the sky, hovering above the campfire.

Without warning, it turned into a wave of energy which flowed into her. A feeling of wholeness took her soul, she noticed that her purple hair had turned a shade of blond. Then materialising in front of her was Excalibur Galatine, she could feel full power ready to be commanded as she took hold of it but that could only happen if….

"No…..it can't be true." Tears slipped down her face as she realised what had happened "SIMOOOOON!"

Her cry of anguish echoed into the forest, no creature daring to approach its source.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Looking backwards into the now disappearing golden light, a memory overtook Lucy.

_It was the year X776, a young Lucy, her mother and her friend had all taken a trip to the beach. Lucy was wandering by herself as she walked along the sand._

" _Huh what's this?" The little girl wondered as she saw something half buried in the sand._

_Pulling it out she saw it was a scabbard made of gold and decorated with blue enamel, with a strange letting inscribed on it. She could feel it was magical but had no magic energy in it and thus its power seemed to be dormant. It didn't particularly stand out to her, so shrugging she opened the Gate of Babylon and placed the scabbard within, giving it no further thought._

" _Lucy, come on let's see who can build the best sandcastle." Lucy turned around to see her fox eared friend calling out to her._

" _Hah you can try but naturally, mine will be better." Lucy boasted running off to play, Layla watching them both from close by. Any thoughts of the Scabbard now forgotten._

"What are you thinking about?" Lucy was snapped out of the memory by Erza's question.

"Nothing important." Lucy answered, the memory quickly fading. "Nothing important at all."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Eventually the Vimana came to a landing on the beach of Akane Resort. When everyone had been offloaded, they began making their way back to the hotel only to find themselves surrounded by men in robes, bearing the ankh symbol of the Magic Council.

"Who are these guys?" Gray asked looking over them.

One of them stepped forward, he was a slim man of average height with long, tied up black hair; two bangs frame his face and an unruly tuft covered his forehead and lavender eyes behind circular framed glasses. a long, blue jacket with pink edges and strapped cuffs over a high-collared shirt bearing the Council's symbol. He also features white pants held up by a simple belt, white gloves, a white cape held closed by a gem-decorated buckle, and distinctive shoes, seemingly bearing a serpentine pattern.

"My name is Lahar." The man introduced himself. "I am the captain of the Magic Council's fourth custody enforcement unit."

"Hello their Lahar." Lucy gave the captain a greeting without looking at him as she took out a communication Lacrima from her pocket.

"Greetings Ms Heartfillia." Lahar returned her greeting respectfully.

"Lucy how do you know this guy?" Natsu asked.

"Oh, I helped him get his job as part of the custody enforcement unit." Lucy replied dismissively as she listened to what the person on the other end of the lacrima was telling her. "If it wasn't me….well let's just say his life could have had a much darker turn."

"Yes, well enough about that." Lahar coughed changing the subject. "I have come to take the wizards known as Wally Buchanan and Millianna in for interrogation as well as to arrest one Jellal Fernandez."

"But Jellal is innocent." Millianna pleaded.

"Yeah he was being controlled by someone." Wally argued.

"They know that." Lucy told them getting everyone to look at her as she apparently finished listening to the person on the other end of the communication lacrima. "But until the real culprit is within their grasp the magic council needs a scapegoat to make themselves look good, especially after they fired the Etherion."

"One of the of more serious you are being brought up on is the kidnap of your twin brother, Councillor Seigrain." Lahar stated putting magic restraining cuffs on Jellal's hands which he had held out as a sign of surrender.

"Tell him the truth." Lucy said "Kidnapping a more serious charge."

"Seigrain never existed." Jellal confessed "He was just a thought project I used while I was being controlled in order to infiltrate the council."

"Very well, I shall include that in my report but I don't expect the Council to take your word for it." Lahar sighed as he pushed up his glasses which had slid down his nose.

"I understand." Jellal said giving Erza nod.

"The other two will question regarding what happened in the Tower of Heaven as well as the incident at Akane resort." Lahar said. "Then they will be free go after a few days."

"But what about the real culprit?" Erza demanded "The one of who was controlling Jellal, they're the on who should be punished for this."

"And he will, once they have Ultear." Lucy said "I had a dog sniffing around the Magic Council for corruption and as it turns out Ultear is the one we're after. Apparently she was Medea the Witch of Betrayals, also known to us as…"

"Caster." Erza growled at the memory.

"HEY I AM NOT DOG DAMN IT!" a voice bellowed from Lucy's lacrima.

"Wait, who was that?" Natsu asked.

"God Serena of the Ten Wizard Saints, we're acquainted." Lucy replied with a shrug "I asked him to investigate the Council for me. No one would try to stop of the Four Gods of Ishgar."

"God Serena is the most powerful wizard on the continent." Juvia said with awe.

"Alright, I think this is enough, it's time to go." Lahar demanded.

Wally and Millianna went with them without protest, while Jellal waved goodbye to Erza. As he was taken away.

"Damn it, this isn't fair." Natsu growled "He's innocent."

"We'll meet again." Erza said with wistful smile. "I'm sure of it.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

**AN: And that's it. Jellal was arrested earlier than in canon and Ultear was exposed. Jellal's arrest was purely so the Council would have a scapegoat, so they don't look too stupid after all the damage Ultear did. Oh and if you're wondering, Lucy doesn't know that sheath is Avalon. This is because Avalon is a story breaker, Erza would be invincible with it, so it won't come into play until much later. Also yes that was Tamamo No Mae, I know she's popular and wanted to bring her in, but I could not decide who she should be until now. As for her mirror, here she is not a Servant nor restricted by the Holy Grail so while she still can't revive the dead with it, she can do some pretty amazing things like absorb an Etherion blast. Don't like it? Well bite me.**


	18. Legend of a False Assassin

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.**

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Lucy, Erza, Natsu, Gray and Happy finally returned to the guild. They had been distracted by a village which was under attack by bandits so they decided to stop there and deal with the problem. Of course dealing the idiots had been easy, but they were forced to leave when Natsu and Gray blew up about half the village with one of their brawls.

The Guild Hall had been fully rebuilt but was very different four-story building that strongly resembled a castle, having battlements on top of its two upper floors, while the ground floor had a more Western-looking roof that consisted of many small, square tiles of different size. Over the battlements several large torches were lined up.

Topping the building and the last floor was a small, tower-like dome containing a large bell, which had a pointed roof made of tiles; two more towers were present on both sides of the entrance, these having elongated glass windows running through them and weathervanes shaped like Fairy Tail's symbol on their tile tops. The front part of the top floor housed a large banner with the Guild's symbol on it, while two smaller banners had been placed at its sides.

The team stood at the gates of the new Guild Hall, which now had a stone fence topped with a decorated railing surrounding it. Natsu, Gray and Happy stared at the stone, castle-like building with surprise.

"Finished Just as I thought it would be." Lucy smirked folding her arms under her chest, "Truly my skill at motivation is second it none."

"They finished building it!" Natsu and Happy yelled simultaneously.

"So this is the new guild hall huh?" Gray commented before seeing members lounging in an outside café complete with dozens of tables, benches, and striped umbrellas. "Are you kidding me? We've got a café now?"

Natsu's eyes widened and his jaw dropped at how drastically the Guild Hall had changed. Lucy glanced to the left and sweat dropped at what she saw. There was a small gift shop composed of bricks and sported a wooden counter. It displayed a variety of items such as shirts, coffee mugs, toys and other souvenirs. 'Fairy Tail Goods Shop' was emblazoned on a wooden sign on top of the small store.

"And a gift shop apparently." Lucy shrugged before walking, the man at the counter was Max Alors. A slim, young man with bowl-shaped, beige hair. He was in charge of handling the Guild's social activities and specialised in a Sand Magic known as Sandstorm.

Ignoring Happy Lucy went in through front doors to the building. The first floor did resemble the old building a bit, but it was much larger in size with more tables, benches and several long beams that supported wooden mezzanines on both sides of the hall. A long counter stretched down the right side of the wall, and above it was a large banner bearing both the Guild's name and insignia.

The Request Board was to the right of the doors, while an information desk was to the left. A few meters in front of them, there were two dozen restaurant tables that stretched across the length of the room. The tables end at a large, wooden stage that had four staircases behind it on both sides. Two of the staircases led upstairs and two of them led downstairs. In the upper right-hand corner of the Guild, there was a rest/shower room. The building also had a kitchen, library, and a large, interior swimming pool behind the stage.

On the fourth floor as promised were Jacuzzi's, enough for everyone in the guild. Lucy had personally financed that bit.

"I could get used to this," Erza commented.

"Hey man, what's wrong?" Gray asked Natsu who was sulking behind his scarf. asked.

"I'm not good with change." The Dragon Slayer grumbled.

"You're all back." Jet said.

"Say could you do something about Levy?" Droy requested. "She's been translating that book you gave her nonstop."

"Yeah, she only stops when we really need some cash." Jet stated folding arms. "We're getting kinda worried."

Looking over at where she was sat, indeed, the blue haired girl was hard at work. A pile of notes stacked higher than the girls head was next to her as she continued to scribble down more notes, the book Lucy had given her was sat open in front of her.

Occasionally Levy would pause to glance at a paragraph in the book and then return to scribbling down her notes.

Lucy smirked, she had made the book so that when Levy had translated a heroic legend all the writing on the pages of said story would change to English, forcing Levy to move on to the next story. It also made it more difficult for her to reference words she'd previously translated.

"You guys can relax," Levy said dismissively. "I'll be entering the Ms Fairy Tail Contest tomorrow, if I win that'll more than make up for the time we've lost. If I don't then I promise we'll go on a high paying job together. I need a break anyway, someone keeps flipping the translated pages when I'm not looking so I lose my place."

"She'll be fine," Lucy said waving them off.

"That reminds me, do you guys know who took my translations?" Levy asked the duo.

"What?" Jet and Droy looked at her in confusion.

"Yeah the translated pages for two of the heroic spirits have gone missing, their legend's basic info, the biography it's all gone," Levy stated with annoyance.

"Nah sorry Levy." Jet told her apologetically.

"I would have lent them if someone had asked," Levy grumbled and got back to work. "Never mind I'll just rewrite them later."

"Well, I'm glad you dunderheads made it back safely." Master Makarov said walking over to the team.

The group turned to the old man and were slightly surprised to see Juvia standing by him. Her appearance had changed a white and blue dress and matching hat with white stockings and gloves that covered her arms, and her hair had been cut shorter.

"I'd like you to meet our newest member, Juvia." Makarov introduced. "Isn't she a cutie?"

"I can't wait to work with you," Juvia said bowing formally.

"So you actually made it in, huh?"

"Thanks for helping us back at Akane Resort." Erza thanked.

"No. I should be thanking you," Juvia replied happily, "because now I found a new Guild."

"We've also added another new member to the Guild." Makarov proclaimed. "Someone you might you recognise."

"I wonder who it is," Happy said.

They turned around and immediately appeared on their faces dropped. While both Lucy and Erza had scowls on their faces.

"What!?" Gray yelled. "Him?! Are you kidding me!"

Indeed, the iron dragon slayer Gajeel Redfox was sat at a table not far away, scowling at the group with narrowed eyes.

Natsu and Gray got in fighting stances, both glaring angrily at the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"Gajeel!" Natsu shouted with anger.

"Why'd you let him in here, gramps?" Gray demanded.

Juvia got in-between the Dragon Slayer and Ice-Make wizard, holding her hands up in a placating manner.

"Calm down! I asked him to come along with me." She assured.

"I don't mind Juvia, but he's the one responsible for destroying our Guild Hall in the first time!" Erza stated giving Gajeel a harsh glare.

Gajeel merely looked away and scoffed.

"Now, now," Makarov intervened trying to calm the situation, "remember what I taught you. Yesterday's enemy can be today's friend, right?"

"There ain't no way! I can't work with someone I can't trust!" Natsu yelled pounding his fist onto the table Gajeel was sitting at.

"What's the big deal? It's not like I wanna be your buddy." Gajeel remarked with a smug smirk.

"Man that's cold!" Natsu remarked.

"The only reason I'm here is to get work," Gajeel stated standing up and returning Natsu's glare. "I hate this stupid Guild and everyone in it, but times are tough so I had no choice but to join."

"Shut up, loser!" Natsu yelled, clenching his fists.

Gray glared coldly at Gajeel while Juvia was sweating bullets as she held up her hands in defence.

"I'm sorry, but Gajeel was having a hard time finding work and I just couldn't turn my back on him." Juvia cried starting to freak out. "But I don't want you to think I have a crush on him or anything!"

"I know you kids don't like it, but as the master of this Guild it is my duty to help those who have gone astray find the right path." Makarov declared. "Give him a shot, you might find out he's a nice guy." He then looked away and muttered, "At least I hope so."

"Well, I may not agree with you but I will respect your decision," Erza replied.

"Regardless," Erza frowned and glared at Gajeel once more, "I warn you, I will be keeping a very close eye on him."

"Fine" Makarov relented sweatdropping.

"They act more like dogs than dragons." Macao joked, holding up a mug of beer. "Don't yah think?"

"Aye, sir! You might wanna break out the muzzles to be safe." Happy chimed in chewing on a fish.

"Man," Natsu sulked as he walked away. "This new Guild Hall just doesn't feel right."

All of a sudden, the lights went out and the room was shrouded in darkness. Then, the spotlights above the stage came on to reveal Mirajane sitting on a stool holding a guitar and a microphone with bird-like wings hovering in front of her mouth.

Murmurs echoed through the Guild Hall as everyone turned their attention to the white-haired girl on stage.

"Hey! We made it back, Mira!" Natsu called out to her.

"Good to see you," Mira said over the mic. "I'd like to dedicate this song to Fairy Tail's strongest team, and congratulate them on their safe return."

Mira strung a note, causing the crowd to break out in excited applause.

"Knock 'em dead, Mira!" a man shouted.

"Yeah!" One wizard held up his mug.

"We love you, Mira!" another added.

" _As I walk past your room…"_ Mira sang with an angelic voice, _"…my shadow walks through your door…One more day you're not here…"_

As Mira continued singing, a few men in the crowd whistled while the rest simply listened. The team sat at a table together, listening to Mira's beautiful singing voice with content smiles; except Natsu who laid his head on the table, still grumbling over the new Guild Hall.

Makarov looked around at all the happy faces of the Guild members.

_'_ _I can't believe how fast my Fairy Tail children are growing up. Maybe it is about time for me to start thinking about…retiring._ _'_ _Makarov thought to himself._

A moment later, Mira finished singing her wonderful song. The crowd stood up and rewarded her with a thunderous applause.

"Awesome!" Macao shouted. "Who's up next?"

The spotlights went off for a moment as a figure obscured in darkness appeared on stage. When the lights came back on, Gajeel was sitting on the stool wearing a white tuxedo outfit, a white fedora, and a pair of onyx sunshades. He held a heavy metal electric guitar in his hands.

Immediately, the jaws of everyone in the crowd fell to the floor as their bodies went pale from shock.

"Huh? What the…" Natsu trailed off, dumbfounded.

"Wrote this little ditty that I call 'Best Friend'," Gajeel said over the microphone. "Would you like to hear it? Well, here we go."

Unsurprisingly, a round of 'boos' echoed through the crowd as they started throwing various items at Gajeel.

"I ain't listening to you!" One wizard yelled tossing something at Gajeel

"Yeah! Get off the stage, ya bonehead!" Another added throwing some food at him.

_"Sparkling, colourful, shoo-bee-do-ba! You caught my eye like…"_

Though not everyone found him to be terrible. Elfman, Juvia, Macao, Wakaba and Max all shouted out in support, but Juvia was most likely out of old comradery than anything else.

The rest of Fairy Tail however still disagreed as they were still throwing random items at Gajeel.

" _Sha-la-la…one bite is never enough…"_

As Gajeel continued to sing, a vein throbbed on Natsu's head as he covered both ears.

"OH MAN! This has got to be the worst song I've ever heard!" Natsu remarked covering both ears, only to be suddenly smacked with Gajeel's guitar.

The man in question had a vein throbbing on his forehead and ended his song with a tune from his harmonica.

"You wanna piece of me?!" Natsu roared, enraged.

Instantly, Natsu and Gajeel jumped in the air and exchanged powerful kicks.

"Shoo-bee-do-ba!" Gajeel said trying to irritate Natsu further.

Everyone paused and watched as a dust cloud formed around the two fighting Dragon Slayers.

"Enough sho-lee-be-do!" Natsu demanded.

"Shoo-be-do-ba, ya moron!" Gajeel countered.

"Please! Stop!" Makarov begged not wishing the new guild hall to be trashed so soon after being rebuilt.

Natsu was just about to punch the iron mage until a beer mug slammed into his face. He turned to the direction it was thrown from, his expression distorting into a scowl. "Alright, which one of you threw that?! HUH!?"

Gray sat up from the table, fed up with Natsu's antics; however, the ice mage unknowingly bumped into Erza and caused her to lose her grip on her plate of strawberry cake, and accidentally knock her strawberry smoothie mug off the table.

"Natsu! Would you quit screwing around already!" Gray shouted unaware of what he had done.

"If you were real men you would take this outside!" Elfman proclaimed loudly.

"Watch it, you oaf!" Erza yelled kicking Elfman in rage.

Within seconds, an all-out brawl broke out in the Guild Hall. Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel were trading blows and Erza was terrorising anyone close to her out of rage from losing her precious cake and smoothie. The rest were either using magic attacks or exchanging punches and kicks; some of them were doing both.

In the midst of the battle, Master Makarov could be seen crying in dismay as his new Guild Hall was quickly becoming a wreck.

Natsu looked around at the brawl taking place around him.

"Now it's starting to feel like home," Natsu said with a toothy grin pausing the battle only to receive an iron club from Gajeel to the face.

"Quit smiling!" Gajeel yelled as the fight resumed.

Lucy meanwhile simply shook her head and slipped out unnoticed.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Far away from Fairy Tail, in a large mansion stood Ikaruga the reincarnation of the fictional hero Kojiro Sasaki, better known as the false assassin of the fifth Holy Grail War.

Kageyama had taken her to the throne room where she was looking at a tapestry of the zodiac constellations. After a few minutes, she was directed to the back of the room where a woman sat upon a large golden throne wearing a flowing white dress her face was obscured by the sun, but even it was not Ikaruga could tell this was just a thought projection, this Lady Kin was not really here.

"Ikaruga, I am Lady Kin, it is a pleasure to meet you at last." The woman greeted her politely.

"You are Lady Kin? I must ask do you why hide your identity so?" Ikaruga inquired.

"Because it would be such a bother to have to deal with the rabble bothering me in person." Lady Kin replied with a sigh. "Now then I wish to offer you a job, come and work for me."

"Such an offer, but why ask me of all people?" Ikaruga inquired "I was part of an assassin's guild, after all, it would tarnish your name if that was found out."

"Maybe, but a heroic spirit reincarnate is far too tempting to pass up." Lady Kin answered causing Ikaruga to gasp. "You aren't a true heroic spirit but rather a fictional one, I offer not only a job but the chance to forge your own legend. In this world, you can become a real hero. Ah, but what is a hero without a Noble Phantasm."

Lady Kin clapped her hands and out of the ground in front of Ikaruga rose a white pedestal which rose up her waist. Out of the pedestal rose a katana and sheath just next to it both floating over the pedestal.

The katana itself was strange, the blade's sides were lighter and darker from each other. On the darker side was the kanji for Demon, while on the lighter side was the kanji for God.

"I had this sword made especially for you, you are aware of Dragon Lacrima yes?"

"Yes, when implanted they can grant an individual artificial dragon slayer magic," Ikaruga replied.

"Good, I had lacrima made with God Slayer Magic and Devil Slayer Magic, then imbued that power into that sword." Lady Kin told her "Now whether the opponent is a god or demon that sword will not fail to cut them."

"Does it have a name?" Ikaruga asked awed at the sword.

"No, you may give it whatever name you wish if you accept my offer merely take the sword."

The chance was too much to resist and so without hesitation, she took the sword and the sheath.

"Good I have an assignment for you." Lady kin told her "Near Acalypha Town is the Headquarters of the dark guild 'Devil's Horn' I have intelligence that they are planning to attack the town and raid it they have a demon on their side. Go there, slay the demon destroy the guild then find the Book of Zeref which is hidden in their headquarters and bring it to Kageyama, who will await you in Oak Town."

"Why would you want a Book of Zeref?" Ikaruga asked very curiously.

"They are rare and I happen to like rare things." Lady Kin answered simply.

Ikaruga made to ask for more but paused as Kageyama put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

"Trust me, you're not gonna get any more out of her," Kageyama said with a sigh. "She's careful about giving out any information that could identify her."

Ikaruga Sasaki folded her arms and closed her eyes, pondering on her choices. On one hand, if she accepted the offer she was given then she would be serving a person's whose identity, appearance and motives, except alleged greed, were completely unknown to her. Ikaruga may not be a true heroic spirit but she was still stronger than most common wizards in this world. So accepting the offer would grant this 'Lady Kin' a powerful tool in order for the woman to use her acquire whatever she wanted.

But on the other hand, she couldn't deny that becoming a true heroic spirit was beyond tempting. To have the opportunity to write her own legend was something both she and her past life had wanted desperately. They could be more than a wraith summoned to take the mantle of the fictional Kojiro Sasaki. Ikaruga Sasaki could be a legend in her own right, with the sword offered to her, her Noble Phantasm could be capable of slaying gods and demons alike.

This could be her last chance to walk away and try on her own. The choice was obvious.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

In a small room, dark room at the local inn in Magnolia three individuals waited. They were Freed Justine, Evergreen and Bickslow better known as the Thunder Legion, Laxus Dreyar's 'bodyguards'. They were very Loyal to Laxus and willing to do anything he said. Hence why they awaited him at the Inn instead of at the Fairy Tail guild Hall.

Freed sat pouring through two piles of papers.

"Freed it's been a week since I stole those notes from Levy so why are we still here?" Bickslow whined.

"Because we don't want to give ourselves away." Freed replied not looking away from the pages which were separated into two distinct piles "Revealing ourselves before the time could give away the element of surprise."

"I'm back," Laxus stated coming through the door carrying a wooden box.

"Ah Laxus, I've gone over the stories and the plan should work," Freed told him confidently.

"Good." The Lightning Dragon Slayer said grinning down at the box.

"What plan?" Bickslow asked, "I know about the whole battle we're gonna spring tomorrow but what plan are you talking about?"

"It's simple, our plan partly hinges on having the girls in the Ms Fairy Tail contest tomorrow as hostages. But Heartfillia and Scarlet both have a high-level Magic resistance that puts a major wrench into the works." Laxus told him "But with what's in this box I have a method of taking their magic resistance away."

"Really you have something like that? Where did you get it?" Evergreen inquired.

"Well as it turns actually doing the job right and not blowing stuff like an idiot makes you friend on the magic council, especially in their special projects department," Laxus replied holding the box higher so everyone could see it.

"I've gone over both legends and according to the tale of King Arthur, Erza's incredible magic power comes from the 'factor of the dragon' within her granting her the vast magic reserves of a dragon as well as high Magic Resistance." Freed told them.

"So that means-"

"Even if Scarlet gets free and finds me she'll be vulnerable to my dragon slayer magic." Laxus chuckled "Tomorrow, will be the dawn of the new era for Fairy Tail."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

**AN: Ok so Originally I was just gonna skip the whole Battle of Fairy Tail Arc because I had no ideas on how to make it different from canon. But** **Warmachine375 persuaded me to try it. So after procrastinating for a couple months and leaving this chapter half-finished I've finally come up with a couple of ideas. It may not be amazingly different but I hope you'll enjoy what I have nonetheless. Personally I can hardly wait for the Oracion Seis arc, we will be meeting a new reincarnate then.  
**


	19. The Battle of Fairy Tail Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The day of the Magnolia Harvest Festival had finally come and the town was covered in decorations, vendors were all over selling different kinds of foods, merchandise and other goods. Lucy, Gray and Juvia were simply walking around taking in the sights of the festival.

"Food!" Natsu yelled as ran from food stall to food stall sampling what they had. "Must eat everything in sight."

"Chow time!" Happy cried following Natsu and trying the different fish they had.

"He certainly seems energetic, doesn't he?" Juvia commented watching Natsu and Happy start cramming as much food down their throats as possible.

"You haven't changed a bit Gray," a voice stated behind the four Fairy Tail members. They turned to see a man with a long face, dark hair and brown clothes.

"Hey, Warren. It's been awhile," Gray exclaimed.

"Didn't think I'd make it back in time for the festival, but here I am," Warren stated.

"Hello, I'm a new recruit. My name is Juvia," Juvia greeted him.

"Ah, so you're the one I've been hearing about," Warren said.

"Meet Warren Rocko. He's a master of Telepathy Magic," Gray explained.

"It's nice to meet yah," Warren stated politely.

"The pleasure is all mine," Juvia smiled. "This festival is quite a sight."

"It's a pretty big deal. People come from all around to see the Fantasia Parade," Warren explained.

"Ah right," Lucy said with realisation. "I'm going to win the Miss Fairy Tail contest!" She stated jogging away to enter the contest.

"A contest?" Juvia fumed. "I refuse to be outdone by that bimbo."

"So I guess you'll be entering too," Gray grumbled getting a distinct impression that this year would be one to remember.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

While Max was making the announcement onstage, backstage the girls were all getting ready. Well, most of them were.

"Aren't you gonna practice, Lucy?" Levy asked as she practised her own routine.

"Of course not, I don't need to practice, I've already won this competition," Lucy answered confidently.

"You sound confident," Cana told her as she was polishing something large and metallic under a sheet. "But the contest has even started yet, how can you be so sure you've got this in the bag."

"I've seen you all and quite frankly Erza is my only real competition, none of the rest of you have the skill or looks to come close I'm afraid you all will fall flat on your faces," Lucy told them with a confident smirk, causing veins throb in the foreheads of Bisca, Levy and Juvia.

"I guess we'll see about that won't we?" Mirajane said with a smile.

"Yeah, this'll be a lot of fun I think," Cana said before withdrawing a card and transferring the thing under the sheet into the card.

"Oh wait before I forget everyone remembers to drink the mug with your name on it," Mirajane announced motioning to a line of mugs each with the name of a contestant on it.

"Wait drinks, what for?" Bisca inquired.

"Apparently, it's to avoid anyone passing out from dehydration under the hot stage lights." Mira replied "Drinking them is mandatory so we don't have any accidents. Remember to drink every drop or you're not allowed onstage."

Mira began by drinking her own. The others all quickly followed suit, Lucy made a face when she noticed a strange taste in her own drink, one she couldn't quite place.

"Weird taste," Cana commented.

"Indeed, rather acrid." Erza agreed.

"I don't taste anything like that," Levy said after finishing hers.

"Me either," Bisca said.

"Now let's meet Entry Number One!" Max's voice called out before Lucy could make a comment.

"Well looks like that's me. See ya later." Cana crowed as she walked onto the stage.

"The exciting beauty who will drink you under the table any day of the week: Cana Alberona!" Max moved aside as the spotlight shone on Cana who had walked out onto the stage.

"Now bust out some magic and show us your stuff!" Max shouted into the mic.

Cana held up her deck of magic cards and they started to swirl around her concealing her completely.

"She's sent her deck spinning!" Max commentated. "What could she be doing behind all those cards?"

When the cards vanished, Cana was now sporting blue, leather motorcycle bodysuit which left rather little to the imagination. She tossed a card onto the ground and out of a flash of light appeared a sleek red magic motorcycle.

Cana climbed aboard the bike and placed her hand son both handles, the surge of magic energy caused the bike to roar to life. A rev of the engine and small bolts of lightning danced across the bike.

"Hey isn't that the bike that Gildarts bought for her birthday last year?" Levy asked peering at Cana from behind the curtain.

"Yeah, it is." Mira confirmed, "Cana's always been proficient at riding any vehicle or animal like a master."

"Yeah, I guess it runs in the family," Bisca said.

More lightning covered Cana and the bike and suddenly they were off. She shot off the ground looking more like a living bolt of lightning than a person. She rode along the walls near the ceiling, she became faster and faster becoming a bright electrical ring before shoot off across the ceiling making beautiful patterns along it, the lightning shifting through colours blue, red, white and yellow she did so.

Cana bounced around the ceiling like a pinball for a few seconds before coming down and striking ground in a mix of colours, she gave the crowd a grin and a victory sign.

"An absolutely amazing display from Cana ladies and gentlemen," Max yelled as Cana vanished her bike back into a card and walked off stage.

"On to Entry Number Two! She may be new to the guild, but her magic is S-Class, her beauty is radiant in rain or shine: Juvia Lockser!" Max moved aside again as Juvia came out onstage.

The former Phantom girl unleashed a wave of water across the stage which covered as she quickly changed into a white polka-dotted blue bikini.

"Next up, Entry Number three, Fairy Tail's famous centrefold, her beauty has stolen the hearts of men and women all over the land: Mirajane!" The crowd erupted into cheers as she took the stage.

"My speciality is Transformation Magic so I'll show you a new side of me," Mirajane said sweetly.

The Barmaid was getting a lot of cheers until she changed face turned into Happy's. At which point the crowd fell silent, they didn't boo her but both Lucy and Erza could see they were put off. She then changed her face to resemble Gajeel's which seemed to kill any remaining enthusiasm.

"Entry Number Four, the Fairy Queen who needs no introduction"

"That's my cue" Erza realised getting ready to go out on stage, but paused suddenly and gripped her chest, she began breathing heavily for a few moments.

"Erza are you ok?" Levy asked seeing Erza's condition.

"Yeah, do you need some help?" Bisca inquired.

"It's nothing," Erza said before standing up straight and waving them off, "Just a bit of heartburn is all."

"Erza Scarlet!" With that, she leapt into the air and flipped onto the stage.

"Let me show you something I've been wanting wear for a while now," Erza told everyone with a smile.

With a bright flash of which momentarily blinded the crowd, everyone looked to see that Erza had Requiped into a beautiful white and slightly blue, dress which Lucy recognised as being from around medieval Europe, her hair was also a gentle blond colour reminiscent of her past self.

The crowd were instantly entranced by the look, even more so when Erza gave a twirl.

"Wow, amazing," Bisca said nervously.

"Yeah, she looks kinda like a princess." Levy agreed nervously.

Offstage Lucy made a picture frame of the scene with her fingers.

"Ah, my only competition, well maybe Cana as well, but mostly Erza," Lucy commented.

"Hey what's that supposed to mean?" Bisca demanded with annoyance.

"Yeah, we're in this competition too you know," Levy said also annoyed.

"You are in, but neither of you are a threat to me," Lucy replied with a smug smirk.

"And how do you figure that?" Bisca growled.

"Easy, with that green hair and make you look a circus clown," Lucy answered still smirking as her comment caused Bisca to become angry, her eye twitching angrily. Lucy then promptly grabbed Levy and squeezed her against her sizable chest. "I think it's rather obvious what you are lacking."

Levy resisted harshly, trying desperately to break Lucy's grip on her, then Max called her name and Lucy let go. The bookworm gave her an angry glare as she went on stage.

As she went out onstage Levy showed off her Solid Script Magic; although some of it seemed improvised as if she was trying to show off a bit more.

When Bisca went out onto the stage she was in a purple bikini and showed off her shooting skills. It impressed those who were easily impressed with such things but Lucy was not worried, what she had in mind would top all of them.

"Finally Entry Number Seven."

"Ah finally my cue." Lucy smirked taking off her jacket and putting it back inside the Gate of Babylon.

As she made her way towards the curtain she felt a burning sensation makes its way from her chest throughout her body but ignored it, she had a contest to win after all.

"The rookie hotshot who defeated Laxus himself…"

"Hmm." Erza felt herself breathing heavily as she peered at Lucy going onstage from off behind the curtain.

"What's wrong?" Cana asked peering out below Erza.

"Nothing, I just have the feeling that she is going to do something outrageous," Erza replied, clutching her chest, the burning sensation had gotten more intense.

"If nothing else it'll probably be really funny," Cana commented with a smirk.

"Lucy Heartfillia!"

Several portals from the Gate of Babylon opened onstage as Lucy casually strolled to the centre, Eight in total four on either side of her. As she took centre stage small sparkles of golden light gently flowed out of the portals.

Entranced by the small lights many members of the crowd attempted to catch them, they were transfixed as they watched the small lights fade away in their hands.

Standing centre stage Lucy smirked and brushed her hair idly out of the way, so the audience could see her face in full.

"Here it comes." Cana grinned staring out with Erza.

"I get the feeling I'm going to regret not stopping her." Erza sighed rubbing her face with her hand.

"Here we go, prepare to witness beauty the likes which have remained unseen in this world until now!" Lucy declared grabbing hold of her shirt with one hand while holding the other up slightly above her left shoulder. "AUO CAST OFF!"

Suddenly all the portals erupted letting out a blinding golden light forcing everyone in the room to shield their eyes. Erza and Cana were the first recovers when the light died down, what they saw made Cana burst out laughing and Erza growl angrily.

When the audience could see what they saw, stunned them. There stood Lucy on stage completely naked, save for a golden mist around her crotch. Her right arm covered her boobs from being completely bare but it was still enough to make all the men (and a few women) suffer nosebleeds.

Erza glared almost ready to storm on stage and apprehend the arrogant girl only for something behind the curtain to grab both the attention of her and Cana. The burning in her chest flared up even more and then she knew no more.

"Entry Number Eight!"

"What!" Lucy glared around looking for the voice "Wait your turn mongrel. Your better is still onstage."

"I am the very definition of fairy, not to mention the very definition of beauty, and the only woman here who embodies everything men desire, therefore the winner is me, The Lovely Evergreen!" The Thunder Legion's only woman came out in a long green dress with a burgundy fan covering her chin. "Now this idiotic contest can end!"

"Wow, she's back?" Gray asked.

"Then Laxus must be here too," Elfman stated.

"Didn't think he'd show his face so soon after Lucy trounced him," Natsu commented.

"Filth how dare you…." Lucy's soon to be threat was cut off as Evergreen lifted her spectacle's up her eyes glowed a pale yellow and in an instant, Lucy was turned to stone.

"Everyone get out of here now!" Max ordered, causing people to run screaming from the Guild Hall.

"How did she do that?" Gray wondered "Lucy Magic Resistance should have brushed that off."

"What do you think you're doing Evergreen?" Master Makarov yelled, "You'll ruin the festival for everyone!"

"On the contrary" Evergreen chuckled, "I think things are just getting interesting." The stage curtain raised behind her to reveal all the other girls had been turned to stone as well. Erza was kneeling on the side of the stage clutching her chest with a pained expression on her face while Cana was stood just above her looking to something off to the side.

"No Mira!" Elfman cried, seeing his sister turned to stone.

"Don't be a fool! Return them to normal this instant!" Makarov ordered.

A bolt of lightning suddenly struck the stage and materialised into Laxus.

"Well, looks like all your fans decided to head home," Laxus gloated. "Pity because the party's about to start."

"Laxus, I should have known," Master Makarov sighed.

"Freed and Bickslow too," Gray said looking up and seeing the two wizards on the bannisters of the top floor.

"Come on, let's have some fun!" Laxus shouted with a maniacal look in his eyes.

"I've had enough of your nonsense. Turn them back or else!" Makarov ordered his tone getting harder.

"You'd better play nice if you want these ladies to join the parade." Laxus summoned a bolt of lightning directly over Lucy

"No stop!" Makarov yelled.

"In other words, I'm taking these ladies hostage. Break the rules and I'll shatter these chicks one by one. Or I could smash them all right now."

"I'm not amused Laxus. Stop fooling around!" Makarov snapped.

"I am serious old man," Laxus smirked as Freed jumped down from his perch and landed beside him and Evergreen.

"I've always wondered who was the strongest of the Guild. Now it's time to find out," Freed stated.

"Yeah, let's have some fun!" Bickslow added as he landed beside the others.

"how did you get past Lucy and Erza's magic resistance?" Makarov demanded, "Evergreen's magic should have had no effect on them."

"Oh I know so I planned ahead." Laxus replied "I stole Mcgarden's notes and read up on their legends. Heartfillia is two third's god and Scarlet has the factor of a red dragon inside her. So I used my connections with the magic council to acquire some prototype poisons from their R and D department which were designed to weaken the powers of God Slayers and Dragon Slayers. The poison flushes out of the system by itself after a few hours but Evergreen's spell freezes biological functions so even they're set free they'll still be weakened by the poison."

"That explains why the Thunder Legion has been taking so many requests from the magic council lately." Makarov realised.

"Right on old man, you see as it turns out doing things for the Magic Council and following the orders to the letters instead of demolishing a town actually earns you brownie with them." Laxus chuckled. "There's only one rule: whoever's left standing, in the end, is the winner! It's a Fairy Tail Battle Royale!"

"Nice and simple, that's just how I like it!" Natsu smirked as he punched a nearby table.

"Glad you could see it my way. If nothing else you've got the right attitude," Laxus laughed.

"Natsu," Makarov warned.

"This is a festival, right? Let's party!" Natsu smirked. He started towards the stage.

"Did you forget the thorough thrashing he gave you the last time you fought?" Gray asked annoyed.

"I was just a kid back then," Natsu explained.

"It was last year!"

"Yeah, but since then I've become a man!" Natsu jumped at Laxus.

"On the other hand, I think that attitude of yours is going to get you into a world of hurt. Why don't you sit back down!" Laxus unleashed a lightning bolt frying Natsu.

"Naturally, if you want me to turn the girls back to normal, you're going to have to defeat us first," Evergreen explained.

"But those odds aren't bad; there's five of us and like a hundred of you guys," Bickslow added with a laugh.

"You have three hours and not a second more." Evergreen held up three fingers to accentuate her point. "After that, these pretty statues of yours will be reduced to dust."

"Wait five, since when are there five of you?" Gray asked.

"Oh right, see I had to come with a contingency in case Heartfillia and Scarlet get lose, so I brought a very powerful guest to the party on my side. She's waiting for me to return, and just like Scarlet and Heartfillia she's a heroic spirit reincarnate."

"How did you get someone like that to join you?" Makarov demanded nervously.

"Oh, she was in the area when the Thunder Legion and I were coming up with this plan to make me the new Guild Master." Laxus answered smugly "She said she'd help in return for giving her something in the basement, sounded like a fair trade so I accepted."

Makarov's glare darkened upon hearing this.

"Something in the basement?" Gray wondered.

"No one's allowed down there."

"I wonder what it is."

"All of Magnolia will serve as the battlefield. The fight will begin if and when you can find us," Laxus boomed

"Laxus how could you?" Makarov asked in outrage growing to a large size with his Titan Magic. "I won't stand for this!"

"Now, now Simmer down old man!" Laxus yelled. "It's all part of the festival, right? It'll be fun! Let the Battle of Fairy Tail begin!"

"He disappeared," Gray muttered.

"So it's high stakes hid and go seek," Mako stated.

"Let's go!" Elfman roared. "We got to man up and save out girls!" He led the charge out of the building.

"You insolent brat!" Makarov tore after his Guild members. "Just wait, I'll stop you with my own two hands!" However, when he reached the door he slammed into something which stopped him from leaving.

"What's wrong?" Gray asked turning back.

"It's an invisible wall," Makarov explained.

"Don't be silly, Gramps, there's nothing here!" Gray grabbed Makarov and tried to pull him through the doors but found he couldn't. "Man, what's the deal? Hey, what's that writing up there?"

Indeed floating above the doorway was some sort of magical script.

"It looks like one of Freed's Enchantments, it says 'Stone Statues and anyone over the age of eighty years shall not pass." Makarov read the script.

"Whoever writes the rules wins the fight huh?" Gray sighed.

"Enchantments like these take time to write as such they would be useless in a one on one battle, still you can see they can be quite effective if set up as traps," Makarov explained.

"You're really stuck? You can't break through?" Gray asked.

"I'm afraid the rules of the enchantment are absolute," Makarov stated with resignation.

"Guess that settles it; we'll have to go into this fight without ya Gramps. I won't show mercy even if Laxus is your grandson. He's going to pay for this. " Gray growled as he walked out to join the fight.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Hey, we're back," Laxus said as he and Freed walked into the cathedral.

Waiting for him near the back of the cathedral sat upon the altar was a seemingly tall, voluptuous woman with large amounts of thickly braided scarlet hair, located in the front and back of her body as pairs, all of which have bows near its ends. The frontal braids had two golden ornaments near the upper sections.

She was rather scantily clad and wore black thigh-high boots with heels that had a white-coloured border near the top and gloves of the same colour and design, only having claw-like extensions. Atop her head was a black witch's hat which was much larger than her head and possesses dreadlock designs with white bandaging near its ends.

In her right hand was a massive light-brown staff which seemed to match if not outright surpass, its owner's height, and being divided into two large, inwardly curved antlers near the top; considerably below those, the weapon was overlaid with brown leopard-skin spots that extended up to the antler's tips.

"I've grown bored." The woman said, "I'd like to get a warm-up before Erza and Lucy are set free."

"You say that as if it's definite," Freed said.

"It is." The woman replied "Erza has an artificial eye which weakens magic remember? She'll be freed and then defeat Evergreen. So before then, I'd like to get some exercise in. Rewrite the enchantments, give them the option to face me and have those that accept teleported to an enchantment barrier with me."

"Very well, would like it to be one at a time or…"

"No all at once." The woman decreed cutting Freed off. "One at a time is so tedious and I want them to think they have some hope."

"Go ahead," Laxus ordered as Freed looked to him. "The quicker we separate the wheat from the chaff the better."

"This won't take long." The woman stated as she walked out of the cathedral and closed the doors behind her.

Laxus wouldn't admit it, but that woman gave him chills. He shook his head and prepared to make the announcement to the weaklings as Freed made the adjustments.


	20. The Battle of Fairy Tail Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.**

**AN: I'm gonna be honest, I don't like this chapter at all. But I feel like I owe you guys something for sticking with me. This whole chapter is more of an experiment now, a test to see how confidently I can alter canon without thinking I've completely mangled the Fairy Tail storyline.**

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

When Freed's enchantments had started trapping the remaining wizards of Fairy Tail, it hadn't taken long for the rowdy guild members to start attacking one another. When the battles had started the runic barrier blocking to doorway had displayed, the Battle of Fairy Tail, status report with Alzack defeat Jet and Droy.

"Max versus Warren the winner is Warren. Vijeeter versus Nab the winner is Nab. Laki defeats four others. Macao versus Wakaba in progress."

"Foolish children what do they think they're doing?!"

"They really don't have any choice but to fight each other. Those enchantments are hidden all over town so they're impossible to avoid." Happy pointed out "It's just like Laxus said, the Battle of Fairy Tail."

"But why?! It doesn't make sense!"

"Natsu.."

"I wanna fight too!"

"Is that all?!"

"Let me out! Man, you suck! Go away invisible wall!" Natsu griped pressing his face up against the barrier again.

"Why do you want to fight your friends?!" Makarov yelled smacking him over the head.

"Cause it's a tournament to see who's the strongest!"

"This is not a tournament! It's nothing but a trap. Laxus is playing you like a bunch of pawns. If we can't beat the Thunder Legion in time the girls are going to be smashed to pieces. I know that everyone's trying to keep that from happening but they're going about it in the wrong way. If we keep fighting amongst ourselves then the girls are as good as finished, we can't let Laxus win."

"Come on Gramps you don't seriously think he'd hurt them do you? I know he can be a real pain sometimes but he's still one of us. This is obviously a bluff."

"You think so?"

"There's a fighting festival going on out there! Why do I have to be stuck in this dump?!"

"It beats me I can go through just fine."

"Does this mean I'm over eighty and no one ever told me?! Because I'd know if I was a stone statue right?!"

"And here I thought we knew each other Natsu."

'You still think of Laxus as part of the guild?' Makarov thought to himself 'Even after all this you don't believe he'd harm his fellow members.'

"Time remaining two hours and eighteen minutes. Participants remaining Forty-two" Happy read out as the status report updated itself.

"That can't be all that's left," Makarov said with astonishment. "That means more than half the guild has been wiped out in less than an hour."

"Interesting, isn't it?" Natsu Happy and Makarov all turned around and glared as Laxus appeared before them.

"Laxus."

"Where'd you come from?!" Natsu demanded

"It's a thought projection." Happy pointed out.

"Ah Natsu what are you still doing holed up in this dump?" Laxus asked, "Are you scared?"

"I'm not scared I'm stuck!"

"What do you want?" Makarov asked finally.

"I'm here to make a generous offer old man. Surrender now and give me what I want, and this all ends, the weaklings can stop fighting and you can even enjoy one last Harvest Festival before everything changes." Laxus chuckled.

"What are you demanding?" Makarov glared at his grandson.

"Simple really, I want you to make an announcement over the guild's loudspeaker. I want the whole town to hear that you're relinquishing the guild over to me!" The blond man sneered at his grandfather who looked ready to snap a retort but Laxus did not let him. "Now before you say anything just know that I'll only be making this offer of surrender once if you refuse I'll be upping the ante and by the time this is over you'll be begging me to let you surrender."

"You'll have to do better than this to scare me Laxus. The answer is no, I cannot entrust Fairy Tail to you, you have neither the heart nor the conviction needed to lead this guild."

"Fine if that's your answer then keep an eye on the status report, FYI my guest has restless but as a retirement present for you, I've persuaded her to not use her Heroic Spirit powers or Noble Phantasm against anyone but Scarlet or Heartfillia. Don't say I never do anything for you old man. Oh and one last thing she says you'll recognise her wizard name, and that it alone will be enough to make you regret this decision." With that Laxus thought projection faded away leaving the two wizards and one cat alone.

"The hell does he mean by that?" Natsu asked.

Makarov, however, remained silent and kept watching the status report, he couldn't help but feel nervous at the ominous feeling welling up in his gut.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Several battles were going on across Magnolia, Max was fighting Warren. Macao was fighting Wakaba, Gray and Elfman were still roaming around having not gotten caught in any of Freed's enchantments, yet, Vijeeter Ecor was fighting Nab Lasaro on a rooftop, although the dancing man was confident it was clear that Nab was going to win, meanwhile Laki was fighting four other girls who had not taken kindly to her new hairstyle.

" _Attention assorted losers!_ " Everyone paused as they heard Laxus via Telepathy. " _I've got an announcement to make._ "

"Laxus," Alzack growled the name stopping his running down the street.

"What does he want?" Macao wondered as both he and Wakaba stopped fighting to listen.

" _You see my guest has gotten a bit restless, so as a gracious host I've decided on an event to make this fighting festival more interesting. Observe the buttons in front of you._ "

Indeed, everyone looked in surprise as in front of everyone that was still conscious were a pair of buttons, one blue with word _Accept_ and a red one with the word _Reject_.

" _Ok here's how this works; my guest is set up in an enchantment barrier on a pretty large square of Magnolia that's been set up to keep non-guild members away so no need to worry about civilians getting caught up in this. She wants to fight and is accepting all challengers, as an incentive if she's defeated then Evergreen will release the hostages immediately._ "

"Is he serious?" Alzack asked aloud.

" _You better believe I am Alzack._ " Laxus stated with a smug tone. " _It gets better, everyone who presses that accept button will be teleported to the enchantment barrier where you'll be able to work together. For those of you with Natsu level, brain power let me spell it out, you won't have to fight each other you can team up to defeat my guest. Even better I'm extending this offer to Natsu and even Gajeel who's currently cowering behind the bar in the guild-hall stuffing his face._ "

"I am not cowering!" Gajeel yelled popping up from under the bar, a piece of chewed metal in his mouth.

"Ha, I knew you were a chicken Gajeel, stay here and stuff your face like a coward. I'm gonna fight and win this tournament. I'll beat down whoever this is and save the girls in a flash. I'm all fired up!" Without a second thought, Natsu instantly pressed the accept button and vanished in a flash of light.

"Hey, get back here Salamander we're not through yet!" Gajeel yelled also pressing the accept button to follow the fire dragon slayer.

Their names suddenly appeared on the status report before Makarov on the left side.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Suddenly Natsu found himself in a town square, sure enough just as Laxus had said the civilians were nowhere in sight and opposite was a woman with strangely familiar red hair and staff standing opposite him.

"Ah yeah, I don't even need the others I'mma knock you out with one punch!" Natsu yelled charging her only to suddenly freeze in place. "What, hey what's going on?"

The woman simply wagging her finger admonishingly at him before pointing to some words floating the air.

_Combatants may not begin battle until all participants have either accepted or rejected the offer._

"What no fair I don't need those guys come on let's fight!"

"Here you are!" Gajeel yelled suddenly teleporting in and raising his fist to hit Natsu. "I have a bone to pick with you Salamander!" Only to freeze up as he too fell victim to the rules of the enchantment. "Hey what gives?"

"It's the rules." Natsu snorted "We can't fight until everyone's here."

"Fine, I'll settle this when everyone's here I don't care-huh?" Gajeel was interrupted by the sound of the woman tapping her staff on the ground. "Whaddya want?"

The woman gave a small smile and pointed to a new rule that was most certainly not there a second ago.

_Any Fairy Tail members who fight each other within this barrier shall be teleported to the bottom of the ocean._

"Hey that's not fair you can't just make up rules like that!" Natsu yelled angrily.

"We will settle this Salamander, mark my words," Gajeel vowed.

"Fine with me, I'll kick your ass later." Natsu agreed.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

" _Alright, so Natsu and Gajeel not much surprise there, any other takers or do you guys wanna keep brawling it out with each other?_ "

"The hell with this let's save our girls!" Elfman bellowed his sentiment echoed through the telepathy by the others.

It really didn't take long at all. Within seconds the two dragon Slayers were joined by just about everyone else who al appeared in a flash of light within seconds of pressing the _accept_ button.

But while everyone else was enthusiastically joining in, Gray Fullbuster found himself frozen in contemplation of an uneasy feeling that had settled in his stomach.

'Something about this feels wrong.' Gray thought to himself as his finger hovered between the two options presented to him. 'Laxus is just letting us gang on one person so we can save the girls? No this is too easy, even the Thunder Legion would have trouble if they took us all on with Natsu and Gajeel. If this was gonna be so easy then why go to all this trouble of setting up these traps around town? Why do all that just to let us take the easy path…the easy path.'

Gray pondered, the last time he had been presented with the 'easy path' Ur had paid the price for his selfishness and arrogance.

"I learnt that there is no easy path, I'm not gonna fall this twice," Gray said with a steely resolve as he pushed the reject button. Which caused both options to simply vanish from sight.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Hey Salamander doesn't this lady smell familiar to you?" Gajeel asked glaring at their opponent who was playing with a strand of her own scarlet red hair.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, she kinda does but I can't quite place it," Natsu answered agreeing with the other dragon slayer

" _Alright looks like the results are all in,_ " Laxus stated through telepathy. " _Forty combatants in total, I expected a rejection from Reedus, but you Gray? What's the matter is something wrong?_ "

"Ah, I don't need that stripper." Natsu yelled obnoxiously "I can't take this lady down all by myself."

" _Natsu use your brain for once,_ " Gray yelled through the telepathic link. "She's obviously dangerous."

"Ah come on man you're just scared, besides she just wrote a rule saying no can leave so she's trapped in here with us." Natsu told him,

Indeed added to the list of rules was;

_Combatants may not leave the fighting area until the battle has a clear victor._

" _You morons, she isn't trapped in there with you, you're all trapped in there with her!_ " Gray yelled trying to impress the urgency on everyone. " _Don't you see tha-_ "

Gray's voice cut out as the woman tapped her staff on the ground, another rule had been added.

_Until the conclusion of the battle all outside interference including communications are forbidden._

"I've got a sinking feeling all of a sudden," Vijeeter commented, nervously something about the smile on this woman's lips unnerved.

"Man up!" Elfman bellowed "All we have to do is beat her and we get the girls back!" This got cheers from the crowd of wizards.

Let it never be said that Fairy Tail was difficult to rile up.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Back at the guild hall, Makarov was stuck watching the board update itself.

"Hey old man." Makarov looked to see a thought projection of Laxus appear next to him. "The match is about to start, watch the board, you'll soon see why you'll wish you'd given mastership of the guild over to me."

_Natsu Dragneel, Gajeel Redfox, Alzack Connell, Vijeeter Ecor, Nab Lasaro, Warren Rocko, Max Alors, Macao Conbolt, Wakaba Mine, Laki Olietta, Mickey Chickentiger, Wan Chanzi, Joey Fullborn, Elfman Strauss & and various other Fairy Tail wizards_ Vs _Irene Belserion_

The name that appeared on the status board made the old wizards blood run cold and his eyes widen, sweat born from fear began sliding down his face.

"No, no, no, no Laxus how…!" Makarov whipped around to face his grandson who merely laughed at him.

"I hit the jackpot alright didn't I?" Laxus told him smugly "Irene Belserion, one of the twelve Shields of Emperor Spriggan, essentially the Alvarez counterparts of the Wizard Saints of Ishgar. Back home she's known as the Scarlet Despair, the strongest woman on that continent. The fact that she's a reincarnate is a major bonus for me."

"Laxus please, stop this!" Makarov pleaded.

"I can't, really, this was her idea, she doesn't really seem like the order taking type, but here." The screen suddenly appeared on the status board, showing the crowd of wizards led by Natsu and Gajeel standing opposite a single red haired woman wielding a staff. "You'll get to watch your kids as they're taken apart piece by painful piece. Oh and don't try pinning this on me, it's not my fault you were lax with disciplining these hot headed idiots maybe if you were hard on them as you were on me you'd get fewer complaints from the Council and maybe they'd have used their brains before pressing that accept button."

Makarov glared at his grandsons thought projection as it vanished from view, but could not say anything, technically he was correct. Those kids hot-headedness had gotten the better of them and now….it may have killed them. All the man could do now was pray for a miracle.

Unnoticed the elderly guild master cracks had begun forming over the right eye of the Erza statue. With each second that passed the cracks slowly but surely spread further.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Fire Dragons Wing Attack" "Iron Dragons Club!"

Fire and Iron both struck kicking up smoke upon their impact.

"Yeah, I got her." Natsu pumped his fist in celebration only for Gajeel to ram his forehead against the fire dragon slayers own.

"What are you talking about Salamander I clearly got her," Gajeel argued angrily.

"Don't try and hog my glory," Natsu growled pushing back against Gajeel.

"Actually, neither of you struck me." The feminine voice interrupted their feud causing them both to look and see, the scarlet haired woman completely unharmed. Her clothes were unruffled, not a single hair was out of place and she had no burn marks on her body. Her head was tilted slightly to the side, Gajeel's Club extending past her ear. "Ah, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself, the I was born with in this life is Irene Belserion." She introduced herself giving a polite bow. "And I will be the one…." She placed single hand onto Gajeel still extended club and squeezed, as she did so the iron club crumpled beneath her grip causing the dragon slayer to cry out in pain as if his arm was being crushed. "….who destroys you all today."

With that it was like she was tossing aside a toy, as she used Gajeel himself as weapon, smashing him into Natsu before tossing both into an open corner store where they landed inside with a loud crash.

"How sad, but I think they were the strongest amongst if the expressions on your faces are anything to go by," Irene commented looking over the remaining Fairy Tail wizards.

Usually, a statement like this would immediately receive a defiant reply from any or all Fairy Tail wizards present. But this time any such shouts died long before they even reached the lips of the wizards who would have yelled them at her.

They were afraid, this woman permeated a dangerous aura, one so terrifying that it left them unable to move or speak, at this, their adversary just sighed and shook her head.

"Come now, I've not even used my powers yet and here you all are quaking in your boots." The Scarlet haired woman stated, "You will all be destroyed, but there's got be someone amongst you brave enough to volunteer to be first?" She was met with a fearful silence, none of the Fairy Tail Wizards moving. "Really? Not even amongst the men?" Her gaze crossed Macao and Wakaba who merely gulped causing her to roll her eyes. "It was the stare, right? The intimidation was so great your brains have stalled, the fear trapping you between fight or flight." She let out a disappointed sigh "And I so tried to hold back all the way I could, I supposed I'll just have to pick someone at random then."

The group of wizards found themselves all cringing as her finger swayed back forth, is made circles before finally coming to halt.

As soon as this had all begun Laki Olietta had a bad feeling, like the others she too had been paralysed by her fear of the woman before them. But never had she been so fearful as when that finger had landed on her. She barely noticed herself falling onto her haunches. Barely noticed the tears suddenly falling from her eyes.

She did notice the woman began slowly walking towards her. Her footsteps to Laki sounded like the booming footsteps of some massive giant rather than an ordinary woman. To Laki, it seemed strange that these booming footsteps did not shake all of Magnolia to its foundations.

Then she stopped, her feet inches away from Laki's own. The girl could help but look up at the woman, tears born of total terror now completely clouding her vision.

"Try not to think of yourself unlucky, but lucky." Irene said cheerfully "After all your destruction will be the swiftest and as such…" the expression on her face seemed to darken"…you won't have to witness what I do to the rest of them before their destruction."

The woman began reaching down at Laki with a single hand, briefly, she thought she could hear the master calling out to her.

' _I'm scared, someone anyone please save me! I don't want to die!_ ' Laki thought closing her tear-filled eyes so she wouldn't see her own demise coming.

However, today was not end for this young wizard, as her prayer was answered in the form of a flaming fist impacting Irene's face accompanied by what sounded like the roar of a dragon.

"Fire Dragons Iron Fist!" Natsu bellowed this time the force of his blow was enough that it caused Irene to slide back a few inches. "Lady don't you dare try and hurt them when you aren't even done with me yet."

"N-natsu." Laki hiccupped his name as Nab helped her to her feet.

"Ah, flames of emotion." Irene stated as if having a revelation

"Iron Dragons Swo-" Gajeel attempted to strike the woman from behind only to be swatted away with the back of her hand as if he were a fly, sending him crashing into the wall of another store.

"That's one of Igneels tricks." Irene continued as if there had been no interruption at all, meeting Natsu's glare with an even look. "Flames of such intensity that they melt away the fears of his allies while also reigniting their courage."

"You know Igneel?" Natsu asked as he leapt back and landed on his feet.

"Of course, I knew him." Irene replied simply.

"Hey Warren can't tell us her weakness?" Max asked the telepath.

"Well, I don't know I can't really tell…" Warren replied stuttering, his two fingers resting against temple trying to use his telepathy.

"What do you mean you can't tell?" Max demanded angrily "You could read me like a book earlier.

"I can't see anything, my telepathy is definitely working but I can read her thoughts or anything else, it's like my magic is just bouncing off her."

"Of course, that would be too easy." Wakaba commented.

"So where is he? Tell me." Natsu demanded igniting his fist as a threat.

"How about an offer, instead." Irene said "If you go over there and tear the Iron Dragon Slayers heart from his chest and present it to me I'll answer all of your questions about Igneel to the best of my ability. Including exactly where to find him. Well how about it? This is what you want right? To be reunited with Ignee-"

Irene inched backwards avoiding a flaming swipe from Natsu.

"How rude, should take that as a no then?" Irene asked.

"Never, I'll do something like that!" Natsu yelled furiously, flames swirling around him in response to his anger. "If I were to sacrifice a comrade just for an easy way to find Igneel and get all the answers, I'd never be able to face him. Not knowing that I'd killed one of my friend to do it, I won't kill anyone for that, not even a jerk like Gajeel! So I'll just have to beat the answers out of you!"

"Beat them out of me." Irene giggled as if she'd been told a funny joke "Can you honestly not tell? Your skill and power and mine are worlds apart, you're four hundred years too early to even think of trying to close that gap by yourself."

"He's not by himself." Macao told her, purple flames around his own fists.

"Right, we're gonna take you down together." Alzack vowed readying his guns.

"Useless." Irene shook her head with a sigh. "Do none of you understand that the more you resist the more you'll suffer?"

"That doesn't matter to us, we won't just roll over and die, that's not the Fairy Tail way." Laki yelled wiping her tears away.

"That's right we're all real men!" Elfman bellow tacking on his beast form.

"He may have given you all your courage back, but I assure you, your hopes remain as empty as they did before." Irene told them simply, not even flinching as all of them charged her at once different Magic all ready to attack.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Makarov remained on edge as he watched the proceedings through the screen provided by the status screen. He'd been fearful for the lives of his kids as soon as that woman's name had appeared on the board. The told man hadn't been able to resist yelling out for Laki when it looked like she might be meeting her end far sooner than she should have too, but fortunately Natsu had intervened and saved her at the last second.

"You damn crazy bunch of kids." Makarov commented as he saw them all rallying to go down fighting. Their spirits reinvigorated by Natsu.

Before the old man could once again curse his own powerlessness, he heard a loud cracking. Turning to the source he saw Erza's statue with cracks up and down it, for a moment he feared she was going to be destroyed, but then he saw something odd, there was some sort of blue energy leaking from the cracks, expanding and spreading them all over until, a loud boom and the stone statue exploded spraying dust pieces of stone everywhere.

"Master Makarov." The familiar voice made the old man's chest swell with hope.

"Erza." He gasped out her name in relief.

The status report, updated itself, the number of active combatants increasing from forty-two to forty-four.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Far away from the commotion, a man clad in pitch black armour began treading into Magnolia. An aura which completely concealed any chance of discerning who he was, shrouded him as he crossed through the runic barrier around the town.


	21. The Battle of Fairy Tail Part 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.**

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Gray Fullbuster was not having fun, Far from it. He had been running all across town not finding anyone, he had taken to the rooftops to go faster but he had run into an invisible wall just as he was about to leap to another rooftop across the street.

Contrary to what he expected, however, he was not trapped, no he was being kept out. Closer inspection revealed Natsu, and basically everyone who had accepted that challenge from earlier.

"So this is where everyone was taken," Gray mumbled as he looked down at the scene.

To say things didn't look good was a major understatement. This Irene woman looked completely untouched, and not through lack of trying especially on Natsu's part. Gray had arrived just in time to see everyone attempt a combined attack on her, except for Gajeel who she'd swatted away like an annoying insect.

The was a large boom and smoke completely obscured the battlefield.

"Did they do it?" He asked. "What—b-but how?" The ice wizard got his answer rather quickly as the smoke cleared, revealing her just standing in the same position as before, completely unaffected. "She got hit with so much magic energy, and she looks like nothing happened at all."

Indeed, even the roar attack that Natsu let lose had no visible effect. Neither her skin nor clothing were burnt or charred in any way whatsoever. The large pieces of stone that Elfman had tossed at her lay broken and scattered along with the wood that Laki conjured using her magic.

"You all have no idea do you?" The woman stated shaking her head "You're comprehension begins and ends at the fact that 'I'm strong' I don't think you can truly comprehend just utterly outmatched you are, and that's why your still fighting me. Stupidity and Bravado do go so well hand in hand I suppose."

"Keep talking lady." Wakaba growled, "We'll take you down, and then you won't be so smug."

"IRON DRAGO-GAHH!" Gajeel had activated his Iron Dragon Scales, covering his body in them. But like before Irene treated the attack like a joke and simply gave him a slap to arm, the force of which was such that Gajeel's scales completely shattered and he was sent crashing into the ground gouging a large trail into the ground before stopping near a wall.

"Ah, my apologies, I truly do want this to last but I think I may have shattered quite a number of bones with that one." Irene said shaking her head with lament "Ah well, that's what he gets for trying a sneak attack."

She may have sounded like it and may have acted like it had been an accident but Gray was not fooled for a second. From the short time he'd been watching this 'battle', the boy definitely tell that nothing she did was ever an 'accident'. Every single move she made had a purpose, nothing was wasted.

Then she made her move, it happened in the blink of an eye. One moment she was still in front of them then the next she was gone. The wizards all looked around in confusion.

"Did she run away?" Laki asked hopefully.

"Where'd she go? COME BACK HERE AND FI-Oof" Natsu's yell was cut off as he suddenly gripped his stomach and fell to his knees.

"Natsu what's GA-ACK." Macao also stopped as he too fell to his knees also gripping his stomach, he spat up some bile as he did so.

Gray then realised what had happened, even as he spotted the woman standing behind them all, as everyone suddenly fell to their knees and held their stomachs. Some puking others managing just managing to hold it in.

This woman had struck them with such speed, that their brains were only just now realising that they had been attacked. It was ridiculous, like something out of a comic or a tv show, her power, her speed, it was all completely unreal. It was like someone had taken an overpowered fictional character and made them real.

But even, so Gray couldn't let this go on.

"Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray unable to hold himself back anymore sent a trio of icy spears at the woman, hoping to do, something.

He was to be disappointed as his ice magic smashed against a runic barrier and shattering into nothing.

"I'm sorry young man." She spoke suddenly looking up at Gray directly in his eyes, causing him to freeze up. "But I wrote the rules of this enchantment barrier myself, so you'll have to wait your turn."

With that she turned her attention back to the wizards she was 'fighting'. Gray then saw one of the rules floating before him and his heart sank.

_Until the conclusion of the battle all outside interference including communications are forbidden._

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Erza do you know what's going on right now?" Makarov asked the girl.

"I think so, even though I was stone I was still able to hear most of what was said," Erza replied reequipping her armoured battle dress.

"Alright we don't have time to waste, I need to you to hurry to save those kids from Irene fast," Makarov ordered.

" _Hold on gramps, don't get ahead yourself._ " Gray's voice suddenly echoed through telepathy.

"Gray?" Makarov said as he remembered that he'd left a telepathic link of his own open. "What do you mean?"

" _Look, Gramps, I wanna help too, but this woman she's created a rule on this barrier that prevents all outside interference until the battle is over,_ " Gray informed them. " _She seems intent on dragging this out though._ "

"Did she specifically say that SHE created the rule?" Makarov asked impatiently. "Are you sure about that?"

" _Yeah, Gramps she said it me herself after I tried attacking from outside,_ " Gray answered very sure of his answer.

"Damn it, then it's hopeless," Makarov said sinking to his knees.

"Master?" Erza looked surprised at the old man seeming to give up.

"Erza, Irene Belserion is not only a master of Enchantment magic far beyond Freed, but she's the strongest woman on the continent of Alvarez, her power is even beyond mine," Makarov replied unable to look up. "Even if you could crack through that barrier she'd probably just kill them all. We'd need a way to get through that barrier and save everyone quickly enough before she can act, but even you wouldn't be able to break the rules of the enchantment in time."

"Maybe I can't, but I bet she can," Erza said looking at the statue of Lucy.

"I dunno Erza, even if you got her back to normal again she'd probably be super mad and just try to go after Laxus instead." Happy pointed out.

Indeed the cat was correct, Lucy's statue was definitely giving off an aura of hatred and malice, one that vowed revenge the moment she was set free.

"We don't have any way to control her Erza." Makarov protested, even the threat of expulsion would likely not stop the golden girl from going to kill Laxus.

Erza let out a sigh and walked up to Lucy's statue. She leant her head and began whispering into the right ear. Almost instant the aura vanished, and Erza pulled away.

"She'll do it." Erza said ignoring the aura which had now been replaced with one of glee, excitement and a bit of contemplation "Now I just need to find Evergreen and force her to remove the spell."

"Erza, just what did you do?" Makarov asked with shock.

"Yeah, how'd you get her to help out?" Happy asked also curious.

"I made a promise she'd never refuse," Erza replied shortly, clearly having no wish to elaborate.

"Look there's forty-four now!" Happy pointed out. "But there was only forty-two earlier. We have someone else joining in."

"But who could it be?" Makarov wondered.

"Aren't you guys forgetting about someone?" Erza smirked, "A member whose frequently out of town."

"Of course, he's back just when we need him the most." Makarov cried joyfully.

" _Hey Gramps, I'll talk to you later, looks like I've got company,_ " Gray said before the connection cut out.

A beep from the status board got their attention.

"Bickslow Vs Gray. In progress." Happy read off the board.

"I'll go find Evergreen!" Erza yelled as she began running out of the guild, albeit noticeably slower than she had been able to move since the Tower of Heaven.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"So Erza has recovered and now Mystogan will be joining us." Laxus chuckled as he looked upon his own version of the status report which floated before him. "Including me, that's three of Fairy Tails elite coming head to head."

He clenched his fist and lightning rapidly danced and crackled over his arm. However it was not yellow as usual, but rather a white colour.

"You can't have a proper festival without the main event, and what a main event it'll be. Thanks to my new friend giving me this gift, Mystogan isn't going to have the easy he expects, reincarnate or not this won't be a fight that he'll win so easily."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Erza had been running through the streets near the guild which, surprisingly were emptier than she expected, especially considering the festival was so close.

'I have to find Evergreen fast." Erza thought looking around for any sign of the woman. 'There's no telling when that woman will grow bored of Natsu and the others and decide to just finish them.'

The Knight suddenly skidded to a stop when she noticed a golden powdery substance floating around her.

"Fairy Bomb: Gremlin." Erza had less than half a second to react, using the invisible air she was able to blow the fairy dust away, where it exploded, harmlessly destroying a few deserted shops around her.

"Well well she was correct, you did escape on your own." Erza looked up to see Evergreen standing above her on a rooftop, a quartet of wings extending from her back. "On another note, your movements seem rather sluggish, I guess that poison must still be coursing through your system. How fortunate for me, no magic resistance for you I'm afraid and no superhuman speed either."

"I haven't needed it in the past Evergreen, just because I don't have it now doesn't mean you should think it makes any less of a fighter."

"You really annoy me, calling yourself Titania, I am the only queen of the fairies." Evergreen sneered. "Seeing as that heinous artificial eye stops me from turning you back to stone, I'll have to use a different tactic. Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!"

A great number of small light bullets shot rapidly at Erza, who roared and used the invisible air a booster to launcher herself up to slash at Evergreen.

"Try again!" Evergreen taunted, easily dodging the attack and flying away.

"Coward!" Erza yelled giving chase, using Prana Burst to try and keep up, she was forced to slash away at the needles which came her way which Evergreen was leaving in her wake.

"You're quite adept at deflecting my needles aren't you? I wonder could you handle twice as many?" Just like that Evergreens needles doubled in both speed and quantity, Erza tried to keep up using two swords but even so, it was enough and a needle tore through her sleeve and another damaged her leg.

It was then that Erza realised something. She could feel the magical needles hitting her, but they didn't hurt. The pain they should be causing was insignificant that it did not register. This meant had more ability to focus was not being robbed by pain, and so coming up with a strategy to end this she prepared her counter attack.

"What's going on?" Evergreen cried confused. "With this many needles impacting you, even you should on the ground in pain."

"That's something I should thank Lucy for actually," Erza replied with a grin.

"What do you mean?"

"In the Tower of Heaven, she hit my limbs with weapons from her Gate of Babylon over and over again. Compared to that pain, I can't even feel an attack this weak." Erza replied with a smirk.

Suddenly Erza switched back to using a single sword and sheathed it in the invisible air. But she wasn't done, she used this to extend its reach and using her Prana Burst on her arms she began deflected the needles at a much faster rate, but the reach was just short of Evergreen herself.

"Extending the reach of your sword, that won't work," Evergreen growled flying back further to keep away from the sword.

Erza kept up the pursuit, boosting towards Evergreen and slashing at her. But her swings were far from random, every time Evergreen dodged she did so exactly as Erza expected. When Erza came at her from the right she moved to the left, when she attacked from the left she moved right, an attack at her head caused her to descend and attack to her feet caused her to ascend.

With all these predictable reactions in mind, it wasn't long before Erza had manoeuvred Evergreen to the exact place she wanted the, would be Fairy Queen, to be. A pair of reequipped swords later and Evergreen was pinned by her sleeves to a wall.

"Personal character aside you're still a member of Fairy Tail, the same as anybody else," Erza said, minding what she said, she couldn't let Evergreen know just how desperate she was for Lucy to be released, no need to give her any advantage. "If you want to call yourself Titania, then feel free. I don't even know who gave me that name in the first place." Her dismissal of the name seemed to get to Evergreen who glared at Erza. "If you cease this nonsense and turn the girls back to normal then I promise that I will not harm you," Erza vowed as she dismissed the invisible air.

"You're being a bit naïve aren't you?" Evergreen said with a smirk. "I'll have you know that my stone eyes grant me another ability as well. Remote control."

Erza's stare at Evergreen hardened upon hearing this.

"Drop to your knees and bow before me. If you refuse then I'll my power to topple your precious little statues and shatter them." She yelled gleefully.

She looked smug as light enveloped Erza, but her looked quickly turn to one of fearful surprise as now the Knight was wearing her Heavens Wheel armour and about twenty swords and other weapons were hovering just behind her.

"I'm impressed Evergreen I never thought you were the kind who would sacrifice her life for her ideals. If they must be shattered, then I will have no other choice but to collect your soul in retribution for their demise." Erza spoke coldly a deadly serious look in her eyes.

Finding no hint of mercy in her opponents eyes it really didn't take long for Evergreen to scream out in fear, only to be silence as Erza punched her squarely in the face.

"If you're going to bluff then do it right." Erza lectured her.

"Alright, you win." Evergreen conceded with the fist still in her face.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Back at the cathedral, Laxus wasn't happy.

"I should have known, even with the poison in her Scarlet is still strong." Laxus growled punching a pillar "No matter, I still have a couple of cards left to play."

So he activated the runes and began broadcasting to the guild. Except for the poor scrubs stuck in the barrier with his new friend.

"Can you hear me old man? The rest of you had better listen up too. Looks like one of the rules has gone out the window. That's fine, I'll just add a new one. In other words, since I would hate to end the Battle of Fairy Tail early, I've decided to activate the Thunder Palace."

" _Are you out of your mind Laxus?_ " His grandfather yelled through the connection.

"You have one hour and ten minutes. If you think you can win you'd better get moving. Unless you're ready to hand the Guild over to me now, Master."

He let out a laugh as he closed the connection, letting the old man stew with that threat hanging over his head. Suddenly he turned at the sound of the doors to the cathedral opening. Walking through them was an armoured knight shrouded in an aura that made it very difficult to discern anything that was under that armour.

"Oh, hey Mystogan. You actually showed up," Laxus grinned at the man's presence. "I'm surprised you're here. I didn't think this game would be of any interest to you."

"If you bring the Thunder Palace down right now, we may be able to convince the citizens that it was part of the festival," Mystogan tried reasoning with him.

"Is that really why you came back? Give me a break. You're looking for a piece of the action; you want to know who the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail is. Is it you or me?" Laxus stated.

"Laxus, you and I both know how a battle between us would end," Mystogan stated.

"That's a bit arrogant don't you think?" Laxus chuckled "Counting your chickens before they've hatched."

"Perhaps, but even so there is no need to drag innocent people into this." Mystogan tried reasoning again. "If you want to do battle, then I will indulge you."

"It's clear one of us is Fairy Tail's top wizard. The question is which one of us is it?"

"If you see the world in such simple terms as the strong and the weak, then you are truly blind."

"I'm sick of talking about it! Let's settle this here and now, Mystogan! Or should I say-" Mystogan cut Laxus off by quickly tearing out a large slab of stone, which suddenly turned black and was covered in red veins. He tossed it at Laxus who simply grinned and met the attack with a blast of white coloured lightning.

To Mystogans surprise instead of the slab ignoring Laxus attack as it should have, it exploded, releasing enough magic energy that the shockwave shattered all the glass windows in the cathedral.

"Tell me: how do you know about that?" Mystogan demanded.

"Oops, did I strike a nerve? It's a rare treat to see you lose your cool like that. I got a deal for ya: beat me and I swear I'll tell you everything I know," Laxus smirked.

"Alright, how about this, just how did you do that?"

"Do what?" Laxus asked in a false confused tone.

"You know very well what I mean." Mystogan accused. "Reincarnates like myself have speed, strength, agility and power far beyond normal wizards. In the time I made that attack just now you should have no time to dodge much less attack. Even if you did your magic isn't strong enough to overpower that attack. So how?"

"Oh, you mean this?" White coloured lightning began arcing over Laxus body. It did so with increasing intensity, he let his jacket drop to the ground revealing his uncovered torso.

It was then that Mystogan could sense it, Laxus magic energy was all wrong. There was a bright flash and before Mystogan knew it Laxus was behind him, as he instinctively turned to look a fist ploughed into his helmet, the strength caught Mystogan off guard and he was sent flying through five pillars before crashing into the back wall.

"That….speed." Mystogan tried to regain his composure.

Just where was this strength and speed coming from? Normal wizards should have great difficulty keeping up with a reincarnate never mind being able to fight on their level like this.

"Don't tell me you're done already, I'm just getting started" Laxus cackled, as his body seemed to gain a decent amount of muscle mass and flesh coloured scales began appearing on his arms. The white lightning was arcing across him even more rapidly than before.

Escaping from the wall Mystogan focused on Laxus and was stunned at what he could see and feel. The man's magic energy was fluctuating wildly, in addition, his veins and arteries had come to the surface across his body, glowing with a faintly visible white light. This was not the sign of any healthy magic. When magic was used to boost one's power, their cardiovascular system becoming visible was a telltale sign that it was very dangerous to the user. Whatever was giving Laxus this incredible power was putting a great strain on him physically, and perhaps mentally too.

"Laxus, what in God's name have you done to yourself?" Mystogan asked with worry for the man opposite him.

"It's a gift from my new friend." Laxus cackled lightning arcing all across his body. "With this power, I'll be able to crush You, Erza, Heartfillia AND THE OLD MAN!" the bellow caused the white bolts of lightning to lash out violently turning pillars and sections of the wall to dust instantly.

As he prepared himself for battle Mystogan knew this would not be an easy fight. He could not treat Laxus like any other opponent. If he went all out he would kill the other man, and that was not the Fairy Tail way. But holding back risked Laxus doing serious damage to him. Plus he was on a time limit, Mystogan knew that he needed to incapacitate Laxus quickly, before whatever this 'gift' was, tore his body and perhaps his mind, apart, and before the Thunder Palace activated.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Bickslow had given Gray a beat down. So now he lay on the rooftop looking down. The various wizards were all scattered about, bruised, bloodied, beaten and all out of magic energy. Calling what had just happened a battle was grossly incorrect. A battle was a situation where both sides had an equal chance winning. This conflict had been completely one-sided from the very beginning.

Irene hadn't even been threatened throughout the entire battle. Caught off guard by Natsu once or twice, perhaps. But threatened? No. To her, this entire thing had been a bit of entertainment, a distraction purely for her own amusement, even though every single wizard had fought with all their strength and will. But despite all that, there nothing to show for their efforts. No burn marks, no bruises, no broken skin, not even a single hair was out of place on this woman.

In return, the challengers all lay scattered before her, lying next to remnants of broken weapons, wood and other bits of magic which remained after the fact. Elfman lay beaten against a wall, with Laki and Mickey strewn across his legs. Macao, Wakaba and Nab were sharing a pile of table shards. Natsu was on the ground still trying and failing to stand up again. While Gajeel was quite thoroughly unconscious, lying face down in a rather deep crater with both arms crushed after Irene had gotten irritated with his constant attempts at attacking her. You might think that that broken was meant, but no, Irene had grabbed both of Gajeels arms, which were covered in his iron dragon scales, and had simply crushed them both, with the same ease as an elephant would have as it stepped on a soda can.

"I believe I'm done," Irene said grabbing Natsu by his hair and lifting him up to her face, dangling him above the ground. "As entertaining punching bags, you and your friends have made I find there is no more enjoyment to be had here."

She then covered his entire head with her hand and held him in the air.

"But I will commend you, every time I went to end one of your friends lives you kept butting in, saving them and keeping this somewhat interesting. So as a reward, I'm going to destroy you first, but worry not, your friends will be joining you shortly."

Irene began to squeeze Natsu's head, the pressure increasing slowly but this did nothing to dull the great strength behind each finger. Just as the dragon slayer thought that his had might crack like an egg, he heard something. Like a sword going through the air?

"Gah!" The woman holding him let out a cry of pain and in surprise tossed him back away from her, where landed near Macao on his back. "What-"

She grabbed her staff made to use it to defend herself but was shocked as another sword crashed through it turning to splinters before slamming into her. Irene tried to regain her balance but was forced to rapidly dodge as more weapons flew at her exploding upon impact with the ground as the just barely missed her.

Looking up to see her attacker, Irene saw that the enchantment barrier was now clearly visible, all the runes which made it up blinking rapidly in warning. Most congregated over a golden crack in the barrier. Just visible were a pair of golden armoured hands were pulling the crack clearly widening it. They resistance for just a fraction of a second before they simply pushed as though opening a pair of curtains, this let out a golden light as the entire barrier shattered apart like glass.

When the light faded away, everyone could see her striding through the defeat bodies of the fairy tail wizards before coming to a stop before Irene. Clad in her golden armour was Lucy, her arms folded across her chest, looking down at Irene who was on one knee gasping.

"This is impossible, I created this enchantment barrier and wrote the rules myself. Even the Wizards Saints shouldn't have been able to violate the rules I set, So how? How did you break the rules of my all-powerful enchantment!"

"To have such great overconfidence in your own pitiful magic, how arrogant." Lucy sighed clicking her tongue, even as the still conscious wizards behind her all thought as one 'Hypocrite' "The rules of any situation do not apply to me ever, for the simple reason that I am the rules."

"That's our Lucy." Natsu chuckled weakly opening an eye to look at the scene.

"Now then, before I get down to the business of crushing you, why don't you take off that disguise and drop this ridiculous act. Every word you speak has feelings forced into them, you're not good at this so show your true self."

"Dis-guise?" Natsu asked.

"Indeed, have you not wondered?" Lucy asked "I cut her quite clearly on her arm and yet she's not bleeding, even a small cut like that should bleed." Lucy motioned to the arm which Irene was cradling, indeed it was not bleed, the skin look more like stone which had been cut into.

It was then that Natsu saw a change in Irene's demeanour. She stood up, quickly and easily, dropped the arm which she had been cradling, even letting her hat fall from her head. Looking at her now it was like all emotion had just been drained from her body. There was no sign of the sadistic glee she had while giving them a beat down. No amusement from Natsu attacking her again and again, no intimidating aura, nothing. It was like she had just become dead inside.

"Hmph, so you could tell, it's no wonder you are considered a top class heroic spirit. King of Heroes." Irene's voice was far different now, not quite monotone but close, there was a hint of an unidentifiable emotion in her voice. "Very well, I shall oblige you."

Suddenly out of the cut on her arm a geyser of white magic energy started coming out. The cut began widening and into cracks which started spiderwebbing, spreading down across her hand and up her arm across her whole body, the white magical power following the trail.

"Gray, come down here now." Lucy urge the Ice wizard, who obliged, despite his injures landing next to Natsu. As he did so a transparent golden curtain surrounded the injured wizards.

Looking at the woman now the energy was still leaking from the cracks in her skin, but also now it seemed to pulse from her body, which got faster with each passing second. Without warning, the magic power erupted from her as bright white light and releasing an earth-shattering boom which Gray and Natsu could feel even through the veil Lucy had used to afford them protection, they had little doubt that all of Magnolia could feel and most like see it as well. When the shaking and the light finally died down. When their sight was clear, Gray and Natsu were shocked, absolutely nothing remained of the buildings which had formed the square around them were gone, not even rubble remained. They had been totally destroyed, causing Gray to shake at the thought of what might have happened had he not come down from the rooftop.

"Ah, my apologies." There was that voice again, the emotion within seemed to be amusement, but only slightly. "My magic energy shares my nature."

"And what nature is that?" Lucy asked clearly not interested.

"Destruction." The woman replied, the trace of amusement gone from her voice.

She had white hair and tanned skin with tribal like lines of pale skin across her body. Black sharpened nails like claws were on each of her hands and her eyes were a shade crimson rivalling Lucy's own. The largest piece of clothing was the bridal like veil atop her head which went down to her waist, an extremely short miniskirt adorned her waist, with a black undergarment clearly visible. In her right hand a was sword with a blade formed of tri-coloured bands of light which were coloured pink, blue and green.

"Name yourself, mongrel I don't have all day." Lucy demanded annoyed at being kept waiting.

"Name, Irene Belserion is a name I do not wish to be known by, I destroyed that woman out of disgust and played the role of her out of curiosity but now that veil is lifted and Irene Belserion is gone forever, now nothing of her remains, not even her body. It is mine now." The woman spoke of Irene with disgust as if she was envisioning a horribly ugly slug. "I am…. Altera!"

She introduced herself grandly, swishing the blade through the air for emphasis.


	22. The Battle of Fairy Tail Part 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.**

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

It hadn't taken even half a second for Lucy to lose her patience and attack. Luckily, the citizens of Magnolia had long since gotten used to explosions and fighting in their town and so knew to stay away.

Steel and energy clashed against each other, as the sword Lucy was holding met Altera's own, chromatic one. In this battle, Altera's physical strength was greater, as Lucy's was still being sapped by that poison. She could have cured it, but her dearest Saber's offer made her come to the rescue right away without dealing with the poison.

Added to this, was the fact that Altera was very powerful in her own right. While Lucy could tell that she was not using her full power, from what she could tell it seemed to be inaccessible to her, which made them somewhat even. Every time Altera tried pressing her in close combat Lucy would drive her back using the Gate of Babylon, which she could open virtually anywhere, including inches away from someone's face. However, when Lucy pressed this advantage, Altera would quickly and easily deflect the weapons sent at her and rush back into Close combat again.

It was a stalemate, in which neither could really gain a significant advantage. Hence the situation now with both combatant's blades locked against each other. It was then that Lucy decided to try something different, she opened a portal right up in Altera's face and then as she seemed distracted, swiftly lashed out, kicking her in the gut. But it seemed the white hero had a similar idea and at the same time kicked Lucy as well, causing them both to slide a fair distance away from each other.

"You said that Irene Belserion was destroyed. Why don't you elaborate on that?" Lucy inquired, "After all, why say destroy, why not just say that you killed her?"

Altera chuckled softly at the question. "To answer that, a bit of context is required!" The tanned woman rushed in, cause Lucy to defend and lock their blades again. "It begins four hundred years ago when dragons ruled over this world. You see at the time, the Ethernano levels in this world were low, and humanities hopes were dim. The dragons that ruled the world saw them as little more than food. Make no mistake, while there were dragons that wished to live in harmony with humans they were rare, while the remaining majority of dragons were evil, even those of the former factions weren't blameless, they weren't born thinking highly of humans. Acnoligia's existence is a natural reaction to the cruelty of the dragons."

"Is this going anywhere?" Lucy asked with a bored expression.

"Dragons were evil?" Natsu mumbled, "But that can't be right, Igneel wasn't…"

"Humans were despairing, their magic was not powerful enough to slay the dragons, and the gods they worshipped, simply sat on their thrones and did nothing. What could humanity do but pray for salvation? Pray for a miracle? Pray…."

"For a hero." Lucy finished. "But is something as simple as prayer enough for us to be incarnated into this world?"

"Who knows? but even so miracle of miracles a child was born, different from other humans. One who was stronger, faster, more durable and powerful enough to challenge to dragons."

"I take it their legend had something to do with slaying dragons correct?"

"Indeed," Altera confirmed pushing against Lucy only for her to push back. "But he was only one person and the dragons were many, by the time more heroes were reincarnated the dragon king festival was on the verge of beginning and mankind's numbers were dropping to levels of near extinction-"

Lucy had begun to get impatient and fired several weapons at Altera who deftly dodged them.

"Alright, moving along. When the dragon king festival started the outcome seemed clear, even with heroes thinning out their numbers the evil majority of dragons were going to win over those who chose co-existence. Add to this another problem, not all heroes awoke immediately."

"Can you speed this up?"

"Very well, some heroes like yourself were born with memories of their past lives and their powers, ready to be used. But others remained dormant for years even decades until powerful emotions trigger their awakening. As for me, I chose to remain dormant, I just wanted to watch Irene, to see what she would do with her life. I was curious and so I watched, watched her actions, her choices, her experiences. But then one day she and made a choice to get more power, she became the first Dragon Slayer. But as a side effect, she wound up beginning to transform into a dragon. She was pregnant at the time and used magic to slow down her child's development, but when the Dragon King festival ended she was about to be executed to due to fear of her becoming like Acnologia, to save her child she sped up the process and became a dragon, destroying the castle she was imprisoned in and killing hundreds before fleeing to a forest-covered mountain. She spent centuries trying to return to her human form, eventually four hundred years later, she met the black wizard who gave her, her human form back but in appearance only."

"She was unable to stand the consequences of her own actions, correct?" Lucy sighed.

Instead of a response, Lucy widened her eyes as a white light blinded her. When her vision cleared she saw that she was in a forest, with Altera nearby.

"Where have you taken us?" Lucy demanded

"I am projecting my memories on an enchantment barrier." Altera explained, "I thought you'd be interested, in the last few days of Irene Belserion's existence, for clarification's sake."

Truthfully, Lucy was curious. A reincarnate who willingly chose to remain dormant instead of awakening at birth as she had? The lesser beings that called themselves heroes tended to be unruly rabble. Plus she hated surprises that she herself was not at least in some way, aware of. So she needed what information she could get.

"Alright, let's see then."

Out of the bushes a young man with black hair wearing black and tan robes with gold a trim, along with a large, flowing white toga draped around his torso began approaching.

Opposite him was a dragon with light-coloured scales running all over her body. It had a dark-coloured fiery-man running down her back and arms, which appear to be connected to feathery wings. There were three pairs of extensions from the jaw, and a dark-coloured wing-like design over the eyes that's complemented by two oval designs right above it, the bigger one on the bottom and the smaller one on top. It also has them on its claws, four extending from the forearm and three on each finger. There's a noticeable border above the nostrils that divided the mouth from the face, extending near the back of the head. Finally, there were a pair of jagged horns extending from the base of the skull and feather-like scales extending from the back of its knees.

"Ah, this is a rare sight, to think a dragon still existed." The young man commented with what seemed to be relief in his voice.

"Who are you?" The dragon demanded clearly female.

" _Is that?_ "

" _Indeed, the black wizard revered and feared by the people of this world as Zeref,_ " Altera confirmed.

"Ah pardon me, you are human are you not?" Zeref inquired before performed some magic.

In a swirl of magic power, the dragon became a human, Irene. A look of surprise on her face.

"I'm….human! I've regained my human form!" She yelled joyfully as she looked at her claws now human hands and fingers. "I've finally…."

"Only in appearance." Zeref interrupted. "It is regrettable, but you've long since-"

"NO NOT ALL I-…" Irene yelled before turning to look at her reflection in a pool of water "Returning to this form is more than enough, I'm happy beyond word."

" _But of course, it wasn't long before those words rang hollow._ " Altera narrated, as they suddenly jumped from the forest to an inn, where Irene was sitting at a table, staring at a piece of food on her fork.

"I cannot taste anything." She sounded frightened, before rapidly shovelling food into her mouth. "I eat and eat but there's no flavour at all."

Suddenly they were in a stable, where Irene lay wide awake on a pile of hay.

"Ican'tsleepIcan'tsleepIcan'tsleepIcan'tsleepIcan'tsleepIcan'tsleep" She rapidly mumbled to herself, before sitting up. "It itches, it's cold, it hurts." Sweat began dripping down her face, it was clear that this was taking a toll on her sanity. "What is this I'm feeling? All I want is to become a normal human once more."

There was a pause before she broke it.

"I AM A HUMAN! HUMAN! I'M HUMAN" She screamed as if someone had said otherwise before settling down "All I want is to give birth to this child as a human. A human…"

A mere heartbeat later she put her hands on her belly.

"Human, there is a human inside me." She said as if having a revelation, a look Lucy did not like was now crossing the woman's face, the look of a desperate madwoman. "Life, human. A human body." The maddened look in her eyes became even more crazed. "If I could just enchant myself unto the unborn baby inside me. I could finally get my hands on an authentic human body."

The scene skipped again, back to the forested mountain. A newborn infant lay before Irene, another woman stood not far away looking at the scene clearly awaiting something.

"A new existence, a new body, a new life. I am you and you are me." Irene giggled as brought her hand closer to the infant, preparing to enchant herself. "Let us become on my child."

But just as she brought her hand close it was stopped by a barrier. An enchantment barrier….clearly of her own magic.

"W-what?" Irene was confused, before suddenly screaming in agony out as her arm began trembling before she gripped her head as if it would explode. "W-WHAT'S HAPPENING!?"

'Enough.' These were not spoken words, but rather words in Irene's own mind. Lucy recognised the voice as Altera's own. She was speaking from within Irene.

The other woman who had been waiting nearby looked concerned but seemed frozen in place.

'You are nothing but a coward, a pitiful woman who cannot bear the burden of the consequences of your own choices.' There was another heartbeat, with it another wave of pain causing Irene to scream out again.

"Who-WHO ARE YOU?!" Irene screeched, trying to make the pain go away by scratching at her own head.

'I am, thou and thou art I' Altera's voice said dramatically 'In life, they called me the Scourge of God, Attila the Hun. I destroyed the Western Roman Empire and as I lay dying in a pool of my own blood I thought only of ways to destroy Rome. I remained dormant because I was curious, to see what kind of life Irene Belserion would lead, you were interesting, but now all I see is a pathetic worm.'

Another heartbeat and with it another wave of pain flowed through Irene's body causing her to fall onto her back and convulse.

'Saving this child and giving it life was your drive all these years was it not? And you seek to use the child for a quick escape from your choices? This I will not allow.' Altera's voice had a finality in the tone.

"No, I just wanted my human form back, is that so wrong!"

'When you abandon your motivation and sanity in the pursuit of such, then yes.' Altera replied, White magic energy in the form of flames erupted from Irene's right hand and began creeping up her arm and covering her body. The other woman took a step back in horror 'I will destroy you, Irene Belserion will cease to exist as a person. I will absorb your memories, your magic powers, and claim this body. The child will survive, I was the one who forced you to create a barrier to protect her after all.'

"Y-you-?" Irene was cut off as the pain became too much, the flames reshaped into the form of a dragon, she let out a loud scream before the white flames shrank back down to a more humanoid form before exploding outwards violently, incinerate the poor woman who had been there and the forest surrounding them.

When it all died away, Altera stood in Irene's place. She got to her feet and looked at her own hands, clenching them experimentally, before looking down at the sleeping child undisturbed by the display.

" _At this point, I had destroyed Irene's consciousness, she no longer existed. I have her memories, her powers, her dragon slaying magic. But I am myself, she is gone forever._ "

Lucy was about to reply when suddenly she widened her eyes as she heard her name being called by….the Fairy Tail Wizards she had come to save. Then it came to her, she'd been tricked.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The other wizards of Fairy Tail knew something was up when they saw Altera retreat a short distance away from Lucy, as she did so they saw an enchantment barrier seem to cage Lucy in.

"W-what the hell is she doing now?" Gray wondered.

"Hey, where the hell are you going?" Natsu yelled.

"The King of Heroes is a powerful opponent," Altera stated flipping her sword so the hilt was facing the sky. "If she were to draw her Noble Phantasm, I would be in trouble. So it's best for me to strike first. _Flare Effect, Connecting with Mars_." A red beam of light shot out of the hilt of the sword and into the sky which turned dark as black clouds began swirling around a point of light high in the sky. As this happened the wizards could make out several magic circles appearing, much the satellite square. " _Firing in two seconds. Mars turn your rage upon me!_ "

"Shit this is bad." Gray gulped.

"That's a hell of a lot of magic energy," Macao stated in awe.

"That's enough to wipe out most of Magnolia." Alzack cried.

"Lucy you've gotta snap out of it!" Elfman shouted, but she didn't respond, it was if she could hear him.

"What are we gonna do?!" Laki yelled.

"I've got it!" They looked to see Natsu suddenly shoot up into the sky, small sputters of flame magic propelling him up, before stuttering out as his magic energy ran out.

"Nat…su." Macao groaned.

"If he had a death wish, he needed only wait a few seconds longer." Altera commented, " _Pierce the heavens with your tears, red star!_ "

Natsu was out of magic power but was high enough to the magic circles to see the point of light, it slammed down onto the circles and the boy knew he didn't have much time, and so open his mouth and began inhaling, and like the fire he consumed so often the great white light began flowing into his mouth, it wasn't much though, the pillar was far larger than Natsu himself and it took only a few seconds for him to be unable to eat any more.

" _Tear Drop_ …."

"LUCY!" the other wizards all yelled as one.

" _Photon Ray_!"

Lucy's eyes widened and mere seconds before the pillar of light could devour Natsu a shield, that seemed like glass appeared inches away from him. It cracked as the light slammed into it but held fast, soon the light seemed to be absorbed by the shield before it let out a massive shockwave, completely shattering all the enchantment barriers around town.

Natsu then began shining like a large white orb before falling back to the ground, like a falling star. He crashed into the remains of the building Gray had come down from. His whole body was wracked with pain and he screamed as shafts of light began to flicker over his form.

"While I appreciate the information, I do not appreciate sneak attacks, especially when I am not the one doing the attacking!" Lucy growled opening the Gate of Babylon and firing a barrage of weapons at Altera.

The white coloured woman began to dodge rapidly as weapons flew at her. She could scarcely find time to stop as more flew at her from different angles and directions. Those she could not dodge she attempted to deflect with her sword. Suddenly more portals opened and close closer to her, forcing her to be quicker and more agile. Even through this, she saw Lucy turning to Natsu.

"What happened to the idiot this time?" Lucy asked looking down at Natsu who was crying out in pain as the white energy kept trying to break free from within him.

"He tried eating that white beam, thing that came from the sky," Gray replied as he glanced at Natsu who was still crying out in pain.

"Imbecile, it looks like he tried eating divine power," Lucy stated as examined Natsu.

"Divine, like a god?" Macao asked.

"Exactly, like a god." Lucy grumbled resentfully.

"Behind you!" Gray yelled in warning, causing Lucy to whip around and raise the sword still in her hands and lock blades with Altera again who'd gotten in close.

"What have you done?" Lucy asked locking eyes with Altera

"You'll have to elaborate."

"To Laxus, of course."

"Laxus?" Laki said the name as she began standing up while leaning on Nab, the others doing much the same with each other as they began shakily getting to their feet.

"Your magic energy is mixed in with his, and it's fluctuating wildly. Too wildly to be healthy, so what have you done to him exactly?"

"He wanted power, so I gave to him," Altera replied simply, a small smile crossing her lips, as she tried pushing against Lucy who pushed back. "You see, back in Alvarez, by chance I discovered that by infusing the wizards of this world with our magic energy, we reincarnate can amplify their powers. They even become strong enough to fight low, and sometimes mid class reincarnates. But there are several side effects, if you give too much energy too quickly then the person will experience, things like, cellular damage, high blood pressure, mental instability, to name a few. But most prominent is the fact that because of the high speed the body doesn't have time to adapt to the power and so there is a high risk of it ripping itself apart, also potential psychotic episodes and death. However, if the infusion is too slow then the benefits don't show themselves quick enough, it was tricky finding the right speed and balance of energy, honestly I'm still not sure if I've got it right, either way, it's not my problem."

"Laxus…could die?" Wakaba breathed.

"No way." The crowd of wizard broke into worried mumbles.

Natsu's screamed out loudly again, accompanied by a flare of white light trying to break free from him.

"You know I am surprised that he hasn't exploded yet," Altera commented glancing at Natsu.

"And you can't use your full power," Lucy stated.

"Oh?"

"Yes, you are only fighting at the level of mid-tier heroic spirit, you have far more power than this, but you can't access it. Could it be that you are incomplete? You're searching for a way to get your power back."

"You are one to talk, that seal on you. It restrains your prized Ea and the Gate of Babylon. considering your personality, you should have removed it instantly, you have the power to do so, so why don't you?"

"Tch." Lucy let out an annoyed sound.

"Ah I see, examining it closer, it's not that you cannot remove the seal but because you don't want to. My my, what a cruel person she must have be-" Alera was cut off by lucy suddenly pushing against her hard, cause her to stumble quickly regain her composure.

"Silence mongrel or I will rip that tongue from your head, get going, Gray take that pink haired dimwit," Lucy ordered. "If he doesn't get help fast he really will explode, I'd help but I'm a bit busy right now."

"Right" Gray nodded and knelt next to Natsu as everyone else began limping away from the battle "Come on you pink haired mouth breath-OW Damn it!" Gray recoiled his hands having been burnt upon trying to touch Natsu, burns now adorning his hands. "What the hell? I knew this flaming pyromaniac was hot, but never this hot."

Hear the clashing of steel again Gray looked up instinctively, only to be momentarily blinded by blood splattered which across his face.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The others were doing as told and began aiding each other in retreating. Slowly but surely making their way back to the guild hall. Eventually, they reached a street that lead to their destination but stopped at the sound of a pair of familiar voices.

"Where are you guys goin?" Bickslow asked his totem-like dolls floating just behind him.

"The game has not finished yet," Freed stated.

"Get out of the way you guys," Macao grumbled.

"Yeah we got injured here, we need to get them back to the guild." Wakaba cried.

"Well, all you gotta do is get past us first." Bickslow chuckled "Us first." His dolls echoed.

"Well well, Lucy figured that you two chuckleheads would be skulking about somewhere." A familiar voice stated,

"Loke," Laki said as the Celestial Spirit walked to put himself between, Freed and Bickslow and the other wizards.

"She summoned me to keep an eye out on these guys, looks like she was right on the money," Loke stated cracking his knuckles.

"Do you seriously think you can take the two of us on at the same time?" Bickslow laughed.

"He won't be alone," Elfman said walking forward to stand next to Loke. "I can still fight."

"Elfman…." Loke sighed before accepting the aid "Can you hold off Freed? Trust me Bickslow won't take long. Then I'll help you take with him."

"No problem I got this."

"You two are seriously overestimating yourselves." Bickslow chuckled, getting ready to fight.

"Indeed, it is the height of folly to challenge someone far stronger than oneself." Freed agreed drawing his sword.

"You'll see that I'm different than I was before," Loke stated getting ready to battle.

"I can still fight." Elfman bellow assuming his beast form.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Come on Mystogan, don't tell me this is all you've got!" Laxus taunted as he sent more lightning at the other man who deftly dodged and began using Knight of Honour to empower some stone slabs to use as weapons against Laxus.

Honestly, the battle wasn't going well. Mystogan was having trouble figuring out the exact amount of power to use against Laxus, he needed to do enough damage without agitating Laxus and causing him to exert more power and thus do more damage to his body with this power. If he used too little power then Mystogan wouldn't do enough to gain ground and win the battle fast enough, too much power and he risked killing Laxus outright which was he was refraining from using Arondight.

He kicked three stone frisbees at Laxus, who swiftly smashed them. However, when he made to counter attack Mystogan was gone, he was caught off guard by a kick to the back of the head. However, as Laxus flew forward he grabbed hold of one of the Knights feet and gave him a zap while tossing him at towards the doors of the Cathedral.

Mystogan skidded across the ground before rolling and recovering, standing back up.

"You're holding back Mystogan, I know you're better than this," Laxus growled, lightning arcing across his body.

Any further battle was interrupted by the doors suddenly opened, revealing Erza. In her blue armoured battle dress, an invisible sword in her hands.

"Here you are Laxus." She growled

"You're wide open!" Laxus took advantage of Mystogan's momentary distraction to hit his head with a large bolt of white lightning.

The bolt exploded upon impact creating a cloud of smoke, from which fell the pieces of a black helmet. Eventually, the smoke cleared, revealing a man Erza didn't think she'd be seeing again for a long time.

"No, but how?" Erza she gasped "Jellal?"

Indeed, where Mystogan was stood the blue haired man now looked back at her.


	23. Fantasia

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.**

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The aura that concealed his identity had dissipated when Laxus had destroyed his helmet, thus leaving Mystogan's identity completely open.

"But Jellal, how are you here? You were taken to prison." Erza gasped looking stunned to see the man.

"Oh, so you know this guy?" Laxus wondered with a smirk.

"Erza, I'm sorry I was afraid you'd see this. My name is Jellal but I am not your Jellal, nor 'your' Sir Lancelot." Mystogan told her with a look of shame on his face "This should be proof enough."

There was swirl of magic energy and in his hand appeared a sword similar in appearance to Excalibur, the fairy letters carved into it were proof that it had not been forged by mortal hands, but unlike the sword possessed by the Jellal she knew, its blade was a clear blue like lake water, the sword was still a holy sword.

"But….how..I…" Erza was stunned, unsure of what to say.

"I am not the Sir Lancelot you know, but I have heard of him. In _my_ lifetime, I never turned on my fellow knights, so my Arondight never became blackened, and never lost its status as a Holy Sword. To put it simply I am from another timeline where events went very differently for Britain and Camelot." Mystogan stated.

' _Erza, can you hear me?_ ' Mystogan's voice asked in her head, she realised he was using telepathy ' _Keep asking questions with your voice, listen carefully, there is a dangerous foreign magical power coursing Laxus, we need to get him to use up all his magic energy fast. The problem is that if we can't somehow get him to use all of his magic power at once the power will continue ravaging him, and eventually kill him._ '

"A different Sir Lancelot, do you even hear what you're saying?" Erza yelled ' _But how can we do that?_ '

"It's the truth you have to believe me!" Mystogan protested ' _I have it on good authority that Laxus knows the Fairy Law spell."_

' _Fairy Law?!' Erza seemed shocked at this 'You want him to use it on us?'_

" _Yes, If we can get him into a state of mind where'd he use it we can provoke him into pouring all his magic energy into the spell then it would simply be a matter of knocking him out. I have no doubt that even low on magic power he'd try to keep fighting otherwise._ '

"How could I possibly believe you now?" Erza yelled ' _If know about Fairy Law then you what kind of spell it is._ ' Erza replied ' _It might finish us off if he uses it._ '

' _I have faith_ ' Mystogan replied ' _How people act and how people truly feel are two different things, I believe that deep down Laxus inherited our Master Makarov's heart._ '

' _His heart…_ ' Before Erza could think any more on the subject, a blind white light began filling her vision.

"That was easier than I thought." Laxus laughed as his lightning bolt impacted, having engulfed his two foes. "Letting yourself get distracted in battle is always a grave mista-GAH!"

He was suddenly forced to jump back, as a red and black stone pillar suddenly impacted the ground where he had been standing. Looking up he Mystogan cling to the ceiling looking down at him.

Laxus dodged again as his danger sense went off. Erza came in from the side swing her invisible sword at him. He dodged the first three swings and then, found himself flung back as she swung at him again, almost as if she had struck him with a hammer.

He impacted the wall behind him, created a hole I the wall as he did so.

"You're no match for the two of us Laxus, so just stop this now." Erza yelled at the cloud of dust which now obscured her view of the hole.

"How's this for stopping it?" Laxus suddenly asked from behind her.

Erza quickly snapped to see Laxus behind her with his hands together in a tight fist above her.

"LIGHTNING DRAGON JAW!" He brought the fist down upon Erza smashing her into the ground zapping her with white lightning, and creating a crater. But it didn't end there another larger bolt struck her from the sky further damaging her and causing her to scream out loudly.

"Dragon Slaying magic?" Mystogan gasped.

"Oops, looks like the secrets out." Laxus chuckled "I don't normally use it because I hate the old man's lectures, honestly I didn't know whether this would have the effect I thought it would on you, I had to be sure even with Levy's notes telling me about the Red Dragon factor inside of you," Laxus gave Erza another jolt which caused her to cry out "I needed to know for certain that my dragon slaying magic would affect you, hence the poison. It's essentially Dragon Slaying magic in liquid form. When it worked, I knew my dragon slaying magic would be able to take you down, you see when you regained the power of a hero you regain the weaknesses of one, in this case, you are weak dragon slaying magic."

Laxus made to strike again but was stopped by Mystogan who grabbed hold of his arm and punched him in the face. He responded by smashing Mystogan with an electrically charged headbutt knocking him back, only to be caught off guard by a sudden burst of wind from Erza's invisible air.

He backflipped and regained his footing a short distance away from the pair, even as Erza quickly got back to her feet, her unseen sword pointed in his direction.

Suddenly the room shook, looking out the window they all saw a pillar of white light coming down from the heavens.

"What is that?" Erza wondered.

"Master…"Mystogan said as he sensed Makarov's magic energy signature wavering.

Laxus charged a pair of white bolts in both of his hands.

"Hehe, looks like my friend is finishing off the old man well I'm done with this I'm gonna turn you both to-huh?!" Laxus paused as he saw a bright white light begin leaking in from the windows and the open door.

"This light." Mystogan shielded his eyes from the brightness.

"Is the master using Fairy Law?" Erza asked,

' _Erza, go to Master Makarov._ ' Mystogan ordered telepathically

' _What about you?_ ' she asked

' _I can handle Laxus from here, If I'm right Laxus will counter with his own Fairy Law, now hurry, the master needs you._ '

"ALRIGHT OLD GEEZER IF THIS IS THE WAY YOU WANT TO PLAY IT THEN FINE!" Laxus bellowed as everything was swallowed by the bright white light.

As this happened Erza reluctantly nodded and ran off into the bright light of Fairy Law towards where she sensed the Masters wavering magic power.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Loke cracked his knuckles as he approached Bickslow.

"Loke, you should know that being a spirit I'm the worst matchup for you, wanna know why?" Bickslow laughed "Its cause-"

"You use human possession magic to manipulate wandering souls and trap them in inanimate objects to do your bidding, yeah I already know, I also know about your figure eye magic," Loke said cutting Bickslow off.

"Cocky bastard, it's rude to interrupt someone when they're talking!" Bickslow yelled.

Loke found himself suddenly surrounded by the dolls who shot green beams at him in unison.

"Take that AHAHAHA-huh?" Bickslow stopped laughing as he heard a voice from inside the cloud of dust that had been kicked up.

"Regulus, lend me your strength!" Loke's voice chanted as figure wreathed in a golden light became visible. There was a trail of golden light which quickly destroyed Bickslows dolls and scattered the remaining dust.

Suddenly the fight paused everyone turned to see the sky above the glassy shield had turned dark again, aside from a familiar point of light.

"Oh crap, not again," Alzack said as the pillar came down, shaking the town once again as it struck.

"Whew, our new buddy is really going all out isn't she? By the way, it's totally pointless to destroy my babies." Bickslow taunted. "These are souls man you can't hurt 'em. You can destroy their bodies but I'll just move 'em onto something else. That means I get new babies! " Five more dolls suddenly shot out from a nearby toy store and flew at Loke who easily destroyed them.

"Send as many as you want, It's gonna end the same way!" Loke told him privately worrying as he felt Makarov's magic power wavering.

"Fine, then I guess it's time for the big guns..." Bickslow then took off his mask and pulled down his hood, revealing his blue hair and a black tattoo on his face.

"Nobody look at him!" Macao ordered as those watching shut their eyes. "Bickslow's eye magic lets him turn you into a doll and control your soul!"

"There's no one in the world who can beat my ultimate combo of Human Possession and Figure Eye-GAH! What the-?" Bickslow suddenly stopped as a pair of chains suddenly wrapped themselves around his shoulder and mid-section.

"I have him, big brother." A voice called from behind and to the side of Bickslow.

"Nice work Virgo, right on cue," Loke said giving her a thumbs up.

"Happy to help." The maid replied holding Bickslow tightly.

"Don't bother Bickslow that's Celestial World Steel, you wouldn't be able to break those chains even if you had a thousand years," Leo told him.

"So you had backup waiting that makes no difference, I still have my eyes-GUH!" Bickslow coughed as the chains around his mid-section abruptly tightened as tried to turn his head, the sudden pain caused him to stop.

"Careful, Virgo's physically very strong, if you try to use your eyes then she might snap you in two, you know in a startled attempt to protect herself," Loke warned with a smirk on his face.

"You're bluffing-OH!" Bickslow cut off as the chains became tighter and he felt his circulation being cut off, worse the maid didn't seem to be putting much effort into it.

"You feel like calling that bluff?" Loke challenged him, his eyes still shut.

"Fine plan B, BABIES!" The dolls moved to Bickslows command, however before they could attack

"Mooove!" A familiar voice called out as a boot crashed into Bickslows face using him as a springboard to jump into the air. It took only a few seconds for the dolls to be destroyed by an axe-wielding Taurus, who landed back on the ground with his back facing the man.

"Nice one Taurus." Loke complimented "Just remember don't look him in the eyes."

"Anytime Loke." Taurus grinned.

"Three of you guys at once?" Bickslow yelled, "Where are you getting the magic energy from?"

"Lucy is a lot more powerful than you think Bickslow, anyway now it's my turn." Loke began glowing golden again but it seemed much brighter than before, "Lucy insisted that I come up with a powerful and flashy move, and I think I finally have it down. It's essentially like my Regulus Impact multiplied by a hundred! And you get to be my crash test dummy Bickslow so thanks, **Lions Brilliant-"**

Loke suddenly became extremely bright, far too bright for Bickslow to look at unprotected.

"MY EYES!" He shouted in pain as he covered them.

Suddenly Bickslow felt the chains release him, but before he could take advantage of this a fist became buried firmly in his gut. To those who were looking the bright light had become concentrated in Loke, which now that it had impacted Bickslow began shining again, it was so bright that shafts of light began shining out of Bickslow back.

" **IMPACT!** " The attack released its power and with a power blast of energy, Bickslow was sent flying, crashing through at least ten buildings his angle getting higher with each one, before finally he impacted one of the Thunder Palace lacrima and shattered it with his impact. Naturally causing him to zapped by lightning as he hit the ground.

"Nice one Loke." Wakaba cheered.

"You showed him." Alzack agreed.

"Nice Moooove Loke." Taurus chimed in.

"It was a brilliant display, big brother." Virgo smiled.

"Thanks." Loke said sheepishly rubbing his head "Er…can anyone see if he's ok because I might have overdone it a little."

"Overdone it a little he says." A few of the female wizards said looking at large gaping holes in the buildings Bickslow had gone through with sweatdrops on their heads.

"Hmmm…he'll be fine," Macao said after examining the smoking Bickslow and slinging him over his shoulder. "But he won't getting up for a while."

"Ok now for Elfma-oh….never mind," Loke said paling slightly.

"What is it?" Everyone looked to see Mirajane standing in front of Freed, having now regained her Satan Soul, she was glaring at Freed with a dark aura surrounding her. Elfman was lying nearby.

"You, I just remember I have a date, right about now you guys have got this right? ok, thanks see ya." Loke said quickly vanishing as he closed his gate.

"We should leave as well, farewell," Virgo said bowing and leaving along with Taurus.

"On one hand I'm glad Mira's got her fighting spirit back-" Macao said.

"But on the other, she scared off Loke, we coulda used his help carrying people back." Wakaba sighed.

"What's this?" Both combatants paused in their fighting as shafts of bright white light suddenly began emanating from the ground.

Up in the sky, a massive magic seal appeared, with the Fairy Tail logo in the centre. Then the light swallowed everything.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Lucy hated the person in front of her. The fact that she had wounded her may have been the cake, but the icing was the smirk she wore on her face. The golden girl could tell that smirk Altera wore was fake like she barely understood the emotions she was feeling and was trying her best to imitate what she saw others do.

Seeing lesser beings rise beyond their station was something she disliked. Inhuman meat dolls should stick to serving petty magus, this creature before her was no different. It should stick to its assigned role in the universe rather than trying to understand the humanity it had stumbled upon.

So Lucy decided she had enough wanted this creature out of her face. Opening a few portals of the Gate they all let out a pulse which caused the air ripple. When they reached Altera, the woman found herself being forced back. At first, she tried pushing but found that it only slowed the inevitable pushing against her and decided to back off, she was surprised to find herself a considerable distance away.

"Forcing me to fight at range King of Heroes, Does the wound I gave you hurt so much?" She taunted irritating Lucy further with her barely comprehended smugness.

Her response came in the form of numerous weapons being fired at her in rapid succession. Lucy applied pressure to the wound, the attack had broken through her prized golden armour. She watched as Altera dodged and weaved around the weapons, deflecting those that came back for a second pass.

"Fool, you've had nearly two decades and even now you can barely understand the humanity you've been granted. Your inability to even mimic humans correctly, ONLY IRRATES ME!" Lucy bellowed opened over a hundred portals all aimed at Altera who simply prepared her sword.

She fired, Altera's sword began rotating, eventually she slashed creating a huge gap in the world that seemed to lead to space. Most of the weapons passed into it before it snapped shut and exploded, the blast knocking the rest off course.

"You really-"

"Sweep away the darkness! RAIN OF LIGHT!" Altera widened her eyes as several bolts of magic light suddenly rained down upon her, exploding and kicking up a cloud of smoke.

"Gramps," Gray said as he pulled Natsu to a nearby building and saw Master Makarov leap down between Lucy and Altera.

"Oh my, it's Master Makarov." Altera chuckled a smirk visible on her face within the clearing smoke cloud, "Is Reedus busy perchance?"

"That's enough, you will not harm my children anymore!" Makarov declared glaring at Altera.

"You don't think you stand a real chance do you?" Altera asked, "You'll last longer than your 'children' but you are severely mismatched for this fight."

"Mismatched? Perhaps but even so I cannot abide by you bringing any more harm to my family." Makarov declared before two magic seals appeared, one of each hand. "FLAME WHIRLWIND!"

A flaming tornado erupted from Makarov's hands, even large than Natsu's roar attack. It impacted Altera whose eye's widened seconds before impact. The explosion enveloped her completely before dying down.

There seemed to a couple of minor burns on her, but nothing truly serious.

"Ah, it seems I've underestimated you," Altera said as she examined the burn marks on her arms as if they something new and fascinating to her. "But, I can tell, you put far more magic energy into that spell than normal, didn't you? Even then you just barely got past my magic resistance and the damage wound up being mino-"

Altera was cut off when she was smashed by a giant fist coming down on her.

"How's that for minor?" Makarov grumbled before gasping as he felt his still enlarged fist being lifted off the ground.

"Impressive" Altera said as she emerged lifting Makarovs fist off her with a single hand "I actually felt something that time."

Quickly Makarov retracted his fist, just in time as Altera slashed at the space it had occupied a mere half a second before.

"You may be able to resist direct magic, but physical attacks still hurt you," Makarov stated.

"Perhaps, but it's too late for that revelation, I will now end this game," Altera replied flipping her sword around so the hilt was facing Makarov. "As a human, the tribe I was born into taught me respect for my elders, so elder out of respect I will not make you suffer through the agony of watching your children die before you, instead I will destroy right now."

She let out a sudden burst of magic energy blinding Makarov and the others.

"Flare Effect. Commencing connection with Mars." As they heard her voice through the smoke a red laser shot up into the sky causing clouds to gather again.

Gray stared open mouthed at the gathering of light, which had come much quicker this time. Strangely as this happened Gray hardly noticed that Natsu had stopped screaming out in pain and his thrashing seemed to calm down.

"Out of the way you brats!" Makarov yelled, as Gray suddenly felt himself and Natsu be lifted up and tossed a fair distance away down the street, as Lucy backed off near them.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Gray screamed at the old man as the shield above shattered to pieces as the pillar of light came crashing through it.

"Take care of yourselves, children," Makarov said giving Gray smile as the pillar of light came closer, causing him to become a silhouette.

"GRAMPS!" Gray called out to the old man as his silhouette vanished when the light came crashing down upon him.

The dust cleared rather quickly when it did there was no trace of Makarov at all where he once stood.

"I believe I've completed my end of the bargain, I have destroyed the current master of Fairy Tail, all that's left now is clean up-GUH!" Altera was cut off by a large fist punched her into a small piece of wall which was still standing. "You, but how….I see."

Everyone looked to see Makarov, fine and without nary a mark on him. Behind was a rather large familiar golden ripple in the air.

"King of Heroes you used your Gate of Babylon to transport him away at the last second," Altera observed.

"You have a bad habit of presuming victory before you've won, Scourge." Lucy laughed as she fell onto her hindquarters, she was starting to feel dizzy.

"You leave me no choice in this matter, I must end this here and now!" Makarov declared taking a stance, between his palms an orb of light appeared and began growing bigger, shafts of light came out of the ground.

"Fairy Law, you intend to use your most powerful spell?" Altera chuckled "It's only fair I did use my ultimate move after all."

"I invoke, Fairy Law." Makarov pressed his hands together, as he did so a massive magic circle appeared in the sky with the Fairy Tail emblem in the centre.

A great white light burst outwards from Makarov swallowing everything.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Even unable to see, blinded as she was by the great white light of Fairy Law. Erza dashed as fast she could towards the master's magic energy. She prayed as the light began dying down that she was not too late.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Makarov glared at the spot where Altera stood. Smoke coming off over her skin, she remained still as a statue for a few moments before looking Makarov dead in the eye.

"That one spell actually did more damage to me than combined magic of all your other little wizards. But…" Altera regained her posture and was ready to keep fighting, "it wasn't nearly enough to stop me."

'Not good, I hit her Fairy Law, I put everything I had into that spell and I barely damaged her. What can I do to defeat her?' Makarov's thoughts were cut off by the familiar battle cry of a certain dragon slayer.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Natsu looked around confused, which was not an unusual state of being for him. All he could see was a wavy looking whiteness all around him.

"Man where the hell am I?" Natsu complained, "one minute I was eating weird lookin' pillar and now I'm here, I wanna get back to the fight what's happening?!"

Natsu did not expect a reply, but he got one just not in words. Instead, an image appeared in his head, of him exploding in a white light which consumed that woman he had just been fighting.

"Hey….I'm gonna explode! I don't wanna die, I haven't found Igneel yet, and there are so many kinds of fire I haven't eaten….wait. Hey, there's somebody else in this place isn't there?" Natsu yelled.

He clutched his head in pain, he felt feeling, that were not his own. Anger, Hatred, Vengeance. The image in his mind at this time was of Altera.

"Ok, so whoever you are you're pissed off at her, but why what's your problem?" Natsu gasped out still in pain as he was assaulted by these feelings. "What did she do to you?"

Something different came to his vision this time. It was like he was watching someone else's memories.

He saw fire. Everything was on fire, the plants, the trees the animals, even the ground at his feet. The whole world was burning. Above the spectacle of destruction which had Natsu in shocked awe, hanging in the night sky was a tear shaped jewel. In the midst of the destruction, the enemy stood unmissable.

Towering over the mountains, a great white humanoid figure It was so large that even Igneel would look like a gnat in comparison. A White Titan. An invader from the stars. Destroying everything in its path without clemency or judgement. This thing was the end, but even so, humans stood and fought, regardless of the odds. Not to be outshone the Gods stood beside them seeking to destroy the invader.

It was hopeless, God or man, nothing slowed the White Titan. Nothing harmed it. It was as though it was invincible. The boy watched as those he called comrades, mortal and god alike were swept away by the destruction the Titan wrought. More feelings, Anger, Hatred, Loss, need for Vengeance and finally death.

But Death did not mean the same for gods as it did for mortals. Even as the millennia and centuries passed, even after fourteen thousand years, Mars grudge still festered like an open wound.

Before the image vanished Natsu could see, Altera's image imposed over the Titan. He knew what this person, Mars, was trying to communicate. She and this Titan were one and the same. He hated her HATEDHATEDHATEDHATEDHATEDHATED!

"Gah I get it!" Natsu yelled as he was assaulted by hatred from this Mars guy, no not Mars but a fragment of Mars, that came with his Pillar of Authority. "Listen, man. She took away everything and I understand that. But blowing me up won't solve anything if she escapes then you'll never get another chance like this."

Natsu felt more pain, but coming from inside him like he was being ripped apart. Mars had decided to speed things up.

"Hey wait, think about this, if you miss you'll never get another chance. I'm out of magic energy, so gimme your power!" Natsu could tell that Mars felt doubtful about the idea. "You might not hit her, but I can!"

Natsu sensed Mars deliberation. He was weighing the idea. He'd only get one chance, if he missed then the energy would not leave his body, then he'd explode and die anyway.

"Come on, let's give her an ass kicking she'll never forget."

The Whiteness around Natsu began roiling and the last thing he saw was it rushing at him like an ocean rushing in to fill a gap.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The attention of everyone was drawn to Natsu who was now standing up. But he looked different. On either arm were draconic fleshy scales, but between the scales on his right arm stretching all the way down to his fist, was familiar tri-colour. Like Atlera's sword.

"Hmm….has he reached his limit?" The white swordswoman wondered.

She suddenly flinched as one moment he was standing still and the next, he was right up in her face, his fist drawn back. She slashed, meaning to cleave him in two, but instead of tearing him apart. She met resistance. The scales on his left arm held firm, not giving an inch to the blade.

"This is payback. From someone you wronged fourteen thousand years ago. KEEP THE CHANGE!" Natsu's fist had now gained a white glow, not dissimilar from the pillar of authority he'd tried to eat. "DRAGON GODS: FIST OF MARS!"

Natsu drove the fist into her gut, causing her pain. When this happened, Altera felt pain, like nothing she'd ever felt before. As the colour flowed from Natsu's fist and into her gut, she could see something a silhouette punching her in unison with Natsu.

'Mars? But how? Did this idiot somehow commune with him?' Altera thought as she felt herself fly backwards and land in a large gouge in the ground created by her own body.

But the experience wasn't over yet, as the divine power still in the place Natsu had punched, exploded, erupted into a huge pillar which easily consumed her. She screamed in shock and pain.

"Haha, that was Mars." Natsu chuckled weakly as he fell onto his back. He felt the last bits of Mars essence leave him, as this happened Natsu knew, they'd never meet again.

Eventually, the pillar that consumed Altera faded, as did her screaming.

"Did, he do it?" Gray asked.

A groan of pain was his answer. It didn't come from Natsu but from the hole Altera was in. Horror came over his and Makarov as she pulled herself out. She was wounded, very much so but still even with the damage done to her she wouldn't go down, not yet.

"How fortunate." Altera said looking over her wounds "If that idiot had swallowed more of the pillar of authority then I might not have gotten off so lightly."

'She took Fairy Law, and that attack from Natsu and she's still not down for the count.' Makarov thought with worry as she turned her eyes to them.

"No more games, no more miracles, it's time to end this." Altera flipped her sword around, preparing to use Photon Ray again.

She froze as up above, a familiar magic circle and emblem was in the sky again.

"Fairy Law?" Gray wondered.

"This magic power, Laxus?" Makarov said his grandson's name as he sensed the familiar magic energy.

"Wait Laxus is doing this?" Gray said fearfully as the light consumed everything again.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Erza was jumped and running as fast she could. She was almost there. She had seen the pillar of light shooting upwards for some reason.

"I hope you're right about this Mystogan." She said as the light of Laxus's Fairy Law consumed everything.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

When the light died down they heard a familiar groaning.

"Laxus, you fool." Altera groaned painfully. "Fairy Law only affects those the caster see's as their enemy, which mean…"

"The boy's magic could see into his heart, which is why it only affected her." Makarov realised.

"Enough, of this. His heart or no I will destroy you and gain my payment from your basement!" Altera said as the laser shot into the sky, the familiar pillar of light appeared again and came down.

But Fairy Tail was not exhausted of miracles yet.

"EXCALIBUR!" This yell accompanied a golden light which easily deflected the Photon Ray.

The shockwave of the two powers colliding caused all of the Thunder Palace Lacrima to shatter and shut down the spell.

While everyone else felt feelings of Nostalgia at seeing the golden light, only one did not. One of those present felt fear.

"It can't be….." Altera took a few steps back, as she looked upon Erza and the familiar sword she held, the Sword of Promised Victory. "Where did you get that sword?"

To Lucy, It seemed that Altera was afraid not of Erza, but of Excalibur. She wracked her memories something came to her. Gilgamesh's divine mother spoke of the White Titan, how had been defeated by a holy sword tempered in the inner sea of the Earth. Excalibur, of course, the Ultimate Holy Sword would fit the bill.

"You have done much harm to Fairy Tail and I would see it all repaid in full!" Erza yelled the sword flashing with a golden glow, like a warning.

"Tch." Altera gulped, she was afraid, not of Erza but of the Holy Sword in her hands.

Seeing no alternative, she prepared to flee. Her objective was not worth dying over. However just as she was about to jump away.

"Restrain her, ENKIDU!" Altera found her limbs all tightly bound in chains. She couldn't move at all.

"Where are you going o' Scourge of God?" Lucy taunted "The party hasn't finished yet."

"I can't move," Altera complained trying and failing to break free. She was exerting all the strength her body was capable of, but the chains would not budge even a single millimetre.

"The heavenly chains Enkidu are very special, the higher the divinity of the target, the tighter their grip becomes." Lucy explained smugly "And judging by how tightly they're gripping you, you must have a very high divinity indeed."

"You struggle in vain," Erza said as she began charging at Altera who only stared at the sword in what could only be horror. "Now perish!"

As Erza closed in on Altera she raised her sword and swung it down, only to hit nothing? Indeed Altera seemed to simply dissolve before them

"Did she teleport?" Gray wondered.

"Impossible, No one can teleport out of Enkidu's grasp." Lucy rebuked him as the heavenly chains returned to the treasury. "But that magic….BEHIND YOU!"

Erza looked too late as returned in the fashion she vanished Altera lifted Erza up by the back of her battle dressed and tossed her at Lucy causing them both to fall into a heap. BY the time any of them got their bearings, Altera was long gone, having fled.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Altera found herself on a hillside overlooking Magnolia town, gasping for breath.

"That was a close one wasn't it." A teasing voice said. "If I hadn't helped you out then you've have been sliced in two."

"And I thank you for saving me, Brandish," Altera said.

"My Mass Manipulation magic comes in real handy doesn't it?" Brandish giggled her tail wagging back and forth. "I suppose we should go before they start chasing after you."

"Indeed, Fairy Heart is not going anywhere," Altera said she gave one last look at the town before both ran off, not wishing to be caught.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later on, Laxus had been subdued by Mystogan had been brought to the Fairy Tail infirmary. As he expected getting Laxus to use Fairy Law had gotten Altera's magic energy out of his system and saved him from further physical and mental damage.

Not that this had spared him from Makarov's anger. Laxus had been expelled from Fairy Tail almost as soon as he had been able to stand up. When the Thunder Legion heard this they stopped Laxus before he could leave the guild. Ignoring the glares they were getting from the other members.

"This has to be a joke, right!?" Evergreen shouted. "Why would he kick you out and not the rest of us!?"

"We're just as guilty as you are!" Bickslow added which his dolls echoed.

"Guess he doesn't see it that way," Laxus replied.

"If you're leaving, then I am too!" Evergreen yelled.

"There's no reason for us to stick around if you're not here!" Bickslow added.

"You guys are so annoying sometimes," Laxus smirked. "Can't you just say goodbye and be done with it?"

"I don't understand..." Freed joined the conversation. "We're at fault too, so why are you taking the blame?"

"You got it all wrong." Laxus shook his head. "Say what you want, but you guys are way more attached to the guild than I could be."

"We'll ask the master about this!" Evergreen shouted.

"My decision is final!" Makarov boomed, from above, refused to look at Laxus. "Do not think that because only Laxus is being expelled that you three have escaped punishment. I will announce it right now."

"Our punishment…" Freed mumbled, not noticing Laxus continuing to walk out of the guild when they weren't looking.

"As of this moment the Thunder Legion is dissolved until further notice, you are forbidden from ever acting as a team or taking missions together. You may still take missions individually but you must be accompanied by either Mirajane, Erza, Mystogan, Gildarts, or any other wizard that I have approved. Otherwise, you three are grounded until further notice, are we clear?"

"Yes, master." They all said in unison after glancing at each other.

"Good." With that Makarov turned to go back into the infirmary.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Makarov entered the infirmary and approached Gajeel who was lying in bed next to a sleeping Natsu, staring out of the closed window.

"Oh, Hey Master." Gajeel greeted upon noticing the old man entering the room and closing the door behind him.

"How are you feeling?" Makarov asked.

"Like crushed scrap," Gajeel replied before pulled out a piece of paper. "Here, this is for you. Sorry, it took so long, but I finally tracked down your son Master Ivan."

"Good work, my boy," Makarov said as he took the scrap. "I'm sorry it was so dangerous."

"No prob, I could handle it," Gajeel replied. "It was actually kinda fun. That guy has no idea I'm a double agent."

"Thank you, I appreciate it, we can't let him do as he pleases..." Makarov said before pocketing the paper and walking out of the room. "Got to go, still much to do for the parade."

"Salmander's gonna be mad that he won't be in it," Gajeel called after him causing Makarov to chuckle as he closed the door.

The Iron Dragon Slayer turned his attention back to the window and the cool breeze blowing through it.

'Wait, breeze?' Taking a second look indeed the window was now open "The old a didn't open the window so how-" Gajeel jumped as shadowy figure gently came down from the ceiling, a very familiar figure. "You BUT HO-ummp!" Gajeel was cut off as a hand with a powerful grip clamped down covering his mouth, preventing him from crying out for help.

"Did you really think Master Ivan did not know about your true allegiance?" The figure hissed in his ear, a woman clearly. "Don't worry I have orders not to kill you. But you and I are going to have a little….chat."

With that hanging in the air, Gajeel found himself being dragged towards the window, past the sleeping Salamander who was snoring like an engine. Terror filled him as he found himself being hauled out of it, with no one to see what was happening.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later on, when Night had fallen. Laxus had stayed behind to watch the Parade one last time before he left Magnolia and Fairy Tail for good. Even now Guilt and shame welled up inside of him for what he had almost done to this town, what he had done to the Guild.

He turned to walk away, but felt compelled to walk back, as he did so he saw his grandfather and the rest of the guild raising their hands into the air, a single finger and thumb extended, just like he himself had done all those years ago.

As he turned to leave a voice interrupted him.

"Going somewhere?" He looked to see a familiar blue-haired man, wearing a blue jumpsuit leaning against a wall and grinning at him. "The parade's only just started."

"Sorry God Serena, but I've gotta go, I don't belong here anymore," Laxus told him.

"Actually you aren't going anywhere, not without me anyway." God Serena said holding out a piece of paper to him. "This is a notice of probation from the Magic Council, you can't just threaten a town and expect to get away with it. So someone pulled some strings and got me to babysit you until the time is up, it'll be a year or something. So until then, you're stuck with me. So let's enjoy the party, I could a good drink before we head out anyway."

With that Laxus found himself being dragged towards a nearby tavern.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Of all the things you could have demanded why did it have to be this?" Erza grumbled wearing her battle dress, while Lucy stood near her, they were both standing atop a float shaped like a medieval castle. They had both recovered from their wounds and flushed the poison out of their systems.

"I desire to possess all treasures, and your first kiss will do quite nicely." Lucy laughed "I plan to capture this moment forever." She gestured to a golden orb floating nearby inside was a camera pointed at the two of them.

"Also as a king-mmph?" Lucy was cut off as Erza suddenly pulled her collar and kissed her, she held it for a few seconds before separating, in that moment the cheers of the crowd got louder and there were more than a few camera flashes.

"You talk far too much, also that was a platonic gesture the result of our agreement and nothing more, am I clear?"

"of course, don't worry I'll win your heart eventually. I have all the time in the world."

"And you'll be waiting until the end of it."

"Wow- is that Pegasus." Someone from the crowd asked.

"I didn't think those were real did Fairy Tail make it using magic?" Another asked.

"There's no pegasus scheduled to be the parade," Erza said before she looked back along with Lucy.

"Is that…."

"It's the snake woman," Lucy commented as they both looked to see a woman with long red haired with shades of purple, riding a brilliant white Pegasus hovering just above Makarov's float, she appeared to be holding someone under one arm.

"Who are you?" Makarov demanded looking up at the blindfolded woman who stared back at him.

"I am Flare Corona, also known as Medusa." Flare introduce herself "Master Ivan asked me to have a….talk, with your double agent and to return him when I was done."

She released her grip and the body fell, Gajeel crashed into Makarov's float causing people call out in worry. He was even more heavily injured than before, there were a pair of puncture wounds on his neck as if bitten by a vampire, and multiple bruises all over his torso and limbs. He looked like he'd tortured.

"Take care Master Makarov, Master Ivan will be seeing you very soon." With that Flare flew off into the sky quickly vanished from sight.

'Damn you Ivan' Makarov thought angrily as people rushed to help Gajeel.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[A few days later, Lady Kin's mansion]

Kageyama let out a sigh as he entered the throne room. He had the duty of reporting events to the Lady, who as usual looked down at him, unseen except for some skin of her arm and silhouette from her throne.

"My Lady, I have a report concerning the Love and Lucky Merchant guild," Kageyama stated as he fiddled with a projection lacrima in his hands.

"Hmm…that's one my most profitable Merchant Guilds within Fiore, what happened?"

"There was an attempted robbery, fortunately, the robbery by members of the dark guild Naked Mummy, it was foiled by a wizard," Kageyama reported.

"Hmm…..I'd heard the Oracion Seis had bumped up their protection fees lately. That would explain the rise in robberies, particularly on my businesses. I might have my pet Assassin send the Seis a warning about what happened to those who dare attack what is mine."

"Our reports from interviews of the staff indicate that this wizard uses some sort of magic related to swords." Kageyama turned on the projection lacrima which displayed the inside of guild and row of swords about half as tall as the room lined up in a row. "Some very large weapons rained down and shielded the staff from harm when the leader of the attack tried to fire on the staff. There are no holes in the roof, implied the wizard may have used reequip magic."

"Is there really no other information about our mystery wizard?"

"Well, there might be one other thing." Kageyama scratched his head as he turned off the projection. "Before the swords appeared, one of the staff members thought he heard…an incantation."

"An incantation?" Lady Kin's interest seemed piqued. "What was it?"

"I am the bone of my sword." Kageyama recounted what the report had told him. He gulped as the atmosphere in the room turned furious, his boss pissed.

"Go to the magic council chairman and get the names of all wizards who were in the area at the time, his Super Archive Magic should be able to do that."

"Yes My Lady it will be done," Kageyama said quickly, bowing so as not to meet her gaze.

"Then why are you still here?!" Kageyama quickly scrambled ran out of the room.

When she was alone Lady Kin clenched her fist and pounded it on her throne.

"You will not get in my way this time…Faker!"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

**AN: Just an FYI no Natsu does not have god powers now. That was just a single moment of awesome that he occasionally has like in canon.**


	24. Allied Forces Assemble!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.**

 [------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

There were days when Lahar, Captain of the Magic Council's fourth custody enforcement unit hated his job.

“So what are we doing?” One of the Rune Knights asked. 

This was one of those days.

“For the last time, we are transferring the prisoner Jellal Fernandes to the Magic Councils secure prison in Era.” Lahar said forcefully motioning to the waggon they were escorting, which held both Jellal and a member of the Fiore Army, who was on loan to them due to the shortness of manpower in the Rune Knights now.

This lack of manpower was due to retraining courses that had become mandatory for most Rune Knights now due to the increasing threat of Dark Guilds, especially those subordinate to the Balam Alliance.  Currently, the escort was passing through Worth Woodsea, an ancient forest that was home to the Nirvit people long ago.

Lahar, however, had done the course voluntarily long before his promotion to captain and diligently refreshed himself on the course each year and thus was free to continue his duties. Unfortunately, that meant the Rune Knights who remained were, politely speaking the bottom of the barrel.

‘I hope that soldier is having a better time than I am.’ Lahar thought to himself, only his years of training allowing him to keep his composure and not knock his subordinate’s heads together as they asked for the fiftieth time if they were there yet.

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

Jellal sighed internally, he was bored. He couldn’t help it, the only one with him inside this waggon was a soldier of Fiore’s Royal Army, on loan to the Rune Knights due to their lack of manpower right now.

She wore the standard uniform for a soldier and had messy pink hair, and dark eyes, she was young, as though she had enlisted as soon as she was able, so she was still growing yet. If his observations were correct, she was due for a spurt in growth soon.

The problem was that he couldn’t talk to her because well, she was extremely nervous. Every sudden movement whether voluntary or not, caused her to jump and slap at him with magical thorns, created by her plant magic. This had happened multiple, times and now he had several painful spots on his body where she had hit him.

Whether his movements were due to him cramping up, getting itchy or just plain bumps in the road, she slapped him with her magical thorns without fail. He didn’t hate her of course; the poor girl was just very nervous. Honestly, he was surprised that she wasn’t trembling in her seat.

“So what’s your name?” He tried asked.

“S-shut up.” She snapped trying to hide the quivering in her voice “No t-talking prisoner.”

“I just wanted to make conversation.” Jellal said in a reassuring tone “It’s still a long way to Era after all, I thought it would be better than you trembling the whole way there.”

“Y-you shut up, I am not trembling!” She shouted, “And for your information my name is Cosmos, don’t you dare think that just because I’m a squire that I’m afraid of you!”

“So you’re a squire? Are you aiming to become a knight?”

“A knight of the kingdom, the Rune Knights are low on manpower right now so the king needed volunteers to help them out.” Cosmos explained “Others took more generic assignments, but I volunteered for this assignment, transporting one of the most dangerous criminals in Ishgar to the secure prison in Era. Even with the offer of Knighthood, no one else volunteered, especially when they heard that they would have to be inside the waggon with you. They were too scared.”

“But not you.”

“I may not be as brave as Knight really should be, but don’t you dare think that will stop me.” Cosmos seemed to have gained a fire inside her. “I will become a knight, just you watch!”

Jellal chuckled causing Cosmos to puff her cheeks out much like an angry chipmunk.

“So why do you want to become a knight?” Jellal asked

“Because as a Knight I’d get access to better training and equipment, with that I’d be better able to help protect people,” Cosmos answered, her fear of him seemingly forgotten for the moment.

“It would be easier to join the Rune Knights if that’s your reason, they help people.”

“Are you kidding, if it wasn’t for their Jutsu Shiki being able to detain criminals the Rune Knights would be basically useless,” Cosmos said, having a rather low opinion of the Council’s police force.

“Isn’t that a bit harsh?” Jellal asked.

Cosmos simply gave him a look, one that clearly questioned his intelligence. She the tapped her ear, indicating for him to listen. He could hear the Rune Knights talking outside.

“I spy something beginning with—“

“Dirt!” A frustrated voice cut off the other.

“Damn, how’d you guess?” The first voice asked

“Because that’s all that out here, is Tree’s, Grass and Dirt!” The frustrated voice replied.

“….It could have been clouds.”

The response from the frustrated voice was a low growl.

“Case and Point….” Cosmos said sardonically looking Jellal in the eye.

Jellal for his part was unable to argue on the Rune Knights behalf any further. He could only sigh at the stupidity of the magic council for not having better screening and training procedures.

Suddenly the waggon came to an abrupt stop, causing Jellal to jolt forwards, this, in turn, surprised Cosmos who smacked him with a thorny vine again. The fallen knight ignored this and narrowed his eyes when he heard a pained cry come from outside.

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

Lahar placed a hand to his forehead, trying to stave off an oncoming migraine, and began sincerely hoping for something to shut these idiots up.

“Guh…” Lahar suddenly snapped to attention at the sound which came from the within the forest and signalled for the waggon to stop.

“Who’s there? Identify yourself immediately!” He demanded commandingly,

A figure stumbled out of the forest, clutching his side which was stained red with blood.

“C-captain…” He collapsed onto the ground and looked up at Lahar, who recognised him as…the Knight standing behind h-

“GAH!” Lahar found him struck in the back hard, and was flying towards a trying which he hit, and heard a crack. His arm was broken, or at least sprained if the pain as any indication.

As he landed his glasses had fallen off, he desperately clawed at the ground to find them, even as his men began crying out in pain. He grasped quicker and eventually found them, however by the time he’d wiped the dirt off them it was over, all his men were lying on the ground in pools of their own blood.

Standing off to the side of the carnage were six figures with whom he was familiar, he’d seen their files, the Magic Council had files on most members of the Balam Alliance of Dark Guilds, aside from Tartoros and some of the members of Grimoire Heart.

“The Oracion Seis?” Lahar coughed out only to cry out as the woman known as Angel planted her foot on his back and began grinding it into his wound.

“This one’s still alive, what should we do with him?” She asked looking over her shoulder at her fellow guild members.

“We should ransom him, I bet the magic council would pay big bucks to get a captain back, oh yeah!” A male voice suggested brightly.

“Leave him.” A voice belonging to a much older man ordered as Lahar looked up only to see a man silhouetted by the sun behind him. “He can crawl back to the Council, let them know the terror that awaits them as the Light is snuffed out forever, send Gemini out to infiltrate the meeting where the pathetic guilds of light are gathering to stop us.”

“I’ll be right on it.” The woman said with a sadistic tone to her voice, Lahar, tried to move, but the last thing he saw was a feathered boot rushing towards his face before darkness took him.

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

“Now that’s out of the way let’s get down to business, shall we?” Cobra said looking at the waggon. “He’s in there alright, I can hear him, he’s wondering what happened to the Rune Knights.”

As Racer got closer to the waggon he heard two knocks coming from inside.   
  
"Impatient to get out are we? Well, I'll come when I'm ready." Racer said walking closer to the waggon casually.  
  
Another pair of knocks came from the waggon again, neither faster nor slower than the last. Eventually, the dark wizard was up next to the doors of the waggon. Another pair of knocks resounded.  
  
"Who's there?" Racer chuckled thinking he was funny.   
  
"Hi." Jellals voice said through the door.  
  
"Hi who?" Racer laughed as though it was the funniest thing in the world, he abruptly stopped as the doors crumpled open and a pair of cuffed hands grabbed him by the collar.   
  
"Hi, Sawyer." Jellal greeted before fiercely headbutting the Dark Wizard into unconsciousness and allowing him to fall to the ground.  
  
He then exerted some force and the cuffs around his wrists shattered into pieces. He promptly grabbed Racer and shoved him headfirst into the ground, planting him like a tree.  
  
'He shattered those cuffs like they were made out of glass' Cosmos thought panicked before looking around seeing all of the Rune Knights corpses lying about. 'And all of the Rune Knights have been killed, what do I do now?'  
  
"So it seems you didn't need our help to break free after all." Brain said stepping forward, "So why wait until now if you always could escape on your own?"  
  
"Maybe you wanted to use us attacking this waggon to fake your death and run away?" Cobra suggested glaring at him pointedly.  
  
"Whatever you want from me you're going to be disappointed, I'm not the person you met at the Tower of Heaven, Brain" Jellal stated, "I was being controlled at the time, so any agreements we may have outstanding are between you and Ultear now."  
  
"Mind control, what a load of crap." Cobra snorted  
  
"Are you hoping to dump what you did on someone else?" Angel asked clearly not believing him.  
  
"Control or not, you still have knowledge of your time learning all these years, including the location of Nirvana." Brain laughed. "You will lead me to it."  
  
"And you will be sorely disappointed Brain." Jellal replied, "I have no intention of leading you to such a dangerous magic."  
  
"Who said you have a choice?!" Cobra yelled suddenly at Jellals side, a cloud of poison covering his fist.  
  
However his fist was caught by a gauntlet-clad one, and he found himself staring into Jellal's eyes, a hard look in them.  
  
"I do remember those years I spent learning magic from Brain, which means I also know your magic, and its weaknesses," Jellal said before beginning to whistle, increasing the pitch rapidly higher and higher.   
  
Naturally, this caused Cobra great pain and forced him to cover his ears to try and block out the terrible noise. He suddenly found him in the air with Jellal. Suddenly he was upside down and rapidly approaching the ground again  
  
"Oh shi-" Cobra never finished as Jellal piledrove him into the ground, planting him up to his waist next to Racer, joining his friend in unconsciousness   
  
"I'm two for two, any other takers?" Jellal asked "Sorano? Richard? Macbeth?"   
  
Angel gulped, as Jellals gaze ran over her, Richard stood his ground, One of Midnight's eyebrows twitched in his sleep.  
  
"We're freeing you and this is the thanks we get?" Angel asked nervously "What do you want to go to prison?"  
  
"That was the plan yes until Ultear is caught" Jellal replied, "It was going well until you all showed up."  
  
"What do you feel bad about what happened at the Tower of Heaven? well if this Ultear is really responsible, you could be waiting years to be set free or even until you die in prison if she's never caught." Richard pointed out.  
  
"If that's what it takes then I'll accept that," Jellal replied  
  
"Self-righteous bastard!" Angel yelled angrily preparing to fight. “Open, Gate of the Chisel, Cae-”

Angel was cut off as Jellals gauntlet clad hand wrapped around her throat and lifted her into the air, cutting off her attempted summoning.

Suddenly he leapt up into the air, avoiding the earth which began to liquefy beneath him, then with great force, he tossed Angel at the sneak attacker, Richard a.k.a Hoteye. The collision sent them both to the ground.

“So, four down two to go.” Jellal said as he landed in front of Brain and Midnight “Care to keep testing me? Or are you going to just give up and leave?”

“L-let go of me you Gah!” “Better idea.” Jellal turned to see Cobra had recovered, and his snake had just bitten Cosmos. “How about you give up and do as we say?”

Jellal took a step towards the Poison Dragon Slayer, a glare on his face. A single opening was all he would need to save her and take Cobra down for good.

“Cool your jets, Cubellios venom is now inside your little friend here.” Cobra laughed “Lucky or unlucky for her this variation of Cubellios venom is slow acting and extremely painful. So if you want her to live you’ll need me to get the anti-venom. Now I’m not stupid, so I’ll give you enough to keep her alive but not save her completely, not until we’re done with you that is.”

Jellal glowered, but saw no way out. If he fought there was no doubt he’d win but he’d never be able to save Cosmos life in time, not without the full anti-venom.

“Good work Cobra.” Brain said approvingly. “So what will it be Jellal, your service for the life of this little girl?”

“…Fine, but know this Erik, the instant she dies, there will be nothing stopping me from beating you all to death.”

“Make all the threats you want, it makes no difference,” Angel said having recovered from hitting Hoteye.

“That wasn’t a threat, that was a promise,” Jellal vowed.

“Yeah, well I promise that you won’t get the chance carry out your promise,” Cobra replied. “Now come on, we’ll get back to the hideout then you can start leading us to Nirvana.”

Begrudgingly, Jellal began following the Seis, Cosmos was wrapped up by Cubellios and was still crying out in pain as the venom coursed through her body. What none of them noticed, however, was one body was missing, in the commotion Lahar had crawled away.

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

( **Suggest playing Persona 5 OST 13 – Awakening** )

Lahar growled as he stumbled through the forest, he tried using a tree to support himself only to lose his grip and fall face first into the dirt. Frustration built up inside him, his thoughts drifted to the dead rookies who had been assigned to him, frustration became white hot fury at how the Seis had mercilessly killed them. 

He hated the situation, he hated the Seis, for what they had done. Dark Wizards always had some complaint, they thought that because something happened in their past it justified their freedom, rights, there was always some stupid excuse for what they did.

On top of that, his head was throbbing like his brain was attempting to escape from his skull with a sledgehammer. He pounded at the ground, as he did his migraine throbbed and unseen to him his eyes flashed, briefly flickering from purple to a greyish green.

‘ _Hmph, after all this is this how our justice ends, with us lying face down in the dirt?_ ’ A familiar voice spoke in his head. ‘ _Protecting the innocent, bringing scum to justice was it all just talk?_ ’

“Of course not,” Lahar growled pounding the ground again as another migraine assaulted him. “I won’t let them get away, I won’t let them do as they please!”

His tied up and neatly done hair broke free, becoming messy and taking on a shade of orange.

‘ _And how will you do that, you saw how they killed all our men and left us here like trash. They’re too strong, we don’t have the power to oppose them directly._ ’

The migraine got worse, Lahar honestly began to think his head was on the verge of exploding, he punched a rock, shattering it, but it did nothing to relieve the stress.

“Then I’ll strike from the shadows, if I can’t fight them directly then I’ll just take them down by shooting them in the back, I’ll trap them, poison them, whatever it takes!”

‘ _But why? If we do that then we’ll be called a coward, a knave though some might praise us, most will curse us as a coward._ ’

“So what I didn’t become a Rune Knight…..to be loved, or for rewards.” Lahar gasped out sweat dripping from his brow.

‘ _Then why?_ ’

“For Justice, because if I don’t oppose these scum, then who will? What I’ve always wanted is to be the one who will stand up for the weak and the defenceless, I want to stop people like the Oracion Seis from doing whatever they please to the innocent!” Lahar roared with determination, his eye colour finally settling on a greyish green colour, magic energy became spreading over his body, like a green flame.

‘ _Just what I thought, come on then, we’re not here to be praised, we’re here to deliver justice, SO LET’S GIVE THESE BASTARDS A TASTE OF OUR JUSTICE!_ ’

Lahar let out a scream as the pain erupted over his entire body which was engulfed by the magic energy which shot into the sky like a flaming pillar, causing the minor dark guilds in the area to look at it in wonder, but strangely, the forest and all of the creatures within remained calm as if the magic energy and the power of the forest were one and the same.

[------]----[------]---[-------]---[------------]--[----------------]

Meanwhile, Lucy, Erza, Gray, Natsu and Happy had arrived at a manor house owned by Blue Pegasus. They had been ordered by Makarov to join up with three other guilds in an alliance to take down the Oracion Seis who had begun making noise recently. Apparently, they’d been responsible for breaking into the Magic Councils archives and stealing some as of yet unidentified information.

"This place is the second home of Blue Pegasus' master, Bob." Erza explained.

"Oh, him..." Gray thought in a mix of fear and disgust. “He’s a complete weirdo.”

“Gray be nice,” Erza said, although her tone told everyone she was struggling not to agree with him. “He may be a little eccentric but he still deserves our respect.”

"Are we there yet?" Natsu asked.

"Yes, they're here at last." A voice said, confusing them. A spotlight shone in front of the steps, revealing three men in suits. "We're so glad you came. We are the Blue Pegasus elite; The Trimens."

"Hundred Night Hibiki." The dirty blonde introduced himself.

"Holy Knight Eve." The pure blonde greeted them.

"Still Night Ren." The black haired one said.

The three had struck poses before surrounding Erza and started flirting with her. They pulled out a couch and set it up before pulling out a table and leading Erza over to it. Though she stopped short and shoved them away from her, she could tell that Lucy was getting more and more jealous.

"Calm down men." A new voice said as the man walked down the stairs. "Give these ladies some breathing room."

“That voice.” Erza glared into the darkness.

"Yes, Ichiya sir." Ren said back.

"Ichiya..." Erza grumbled

"It's been too long, my dear Erza." The man said.

"Yes... a long time," Erza said back. "I didn't think you would be here..."

“Who's he calling, ‘his’ dear?” Lucy grumbled with annoyance.

"How I've longed to see you, my honey." The ugly man said. "Worry not, Ichiya is here you."

"My honey!" Happy yelled in shock.

"We didn't know she was your girlfriend, Ichiya." The playboys said. "We're so sorry, please forgive us our rudeness."

"You idiots!" The fourth Pegasus member shouted. "We have work to do!" The three picked up the couch and table and carried it away. "I've heard all about you people, Erza, Lucy, and the other two."

"Me too..." Erza said walking away. "I'd never choose to work with him. But he is a gifted wizard."

“Word to the wise you three would be smart to keep your hands off these ladies, we clear?"

"Crystal." Ichiya jumped and landed in front of the Trimens. "Now take your leave."

The arrogance tricked Gray off even more.

“Thanks for dropping by.” The trio said giving a slight bow to the boys.

"We’re here on some serious business you know!" Gray yelled angrily “Can you pretty boys even fight?”

"Wanna find out?" Ren asked.

“Yeah, we’re real tough pal.” Even said earning a snort of amusement from Lucy.

“Well, all least we won’t short on jesters to keep us entertained I suppose.” She commented. Lucy understood killing the four would likely upset Erza, so for the sake of gaining her affection, she was holding back, only just though.

"A fight!?" Natsu yelled suddenly fired up. "Count me in!"

"Everyone, please calm down," Erza ordered, only to freeze when Ichiya started sniffing her, Lucy was ready to attack, only for Erza to do it by sending Ichiya flying with a solid right hook.

He flew into the extended hand of a familiar man at the door who froze his head solid. It was Gray’s counterpart Lyon Vastia.

"You dare to greet us with this flying buffoon?" Lyon Vastia asked. "Lamia Scale deserves more respect we insist on it."

"It’s you." Gray and Lyon exclaimed at the same time upon seeing each other.

"So you went and joined a guild?" Natsu asked with a smile. The ice make wizard threw Ichiya at Gray and he ducked, Ichiya complained about his face.

"What is wrong with you?" Gray asked.

"He attacked me, Gray." Lyon said back.

"That's our boss you're talking about," Ren said.

"You and your men should just turn and leave," Hibiki added.

"Does that mean women can stay?" A voice asked as the carpet started to move. **"Marionette Attack: Carpet Doll!"**

The carpet doll, however, was immediately torn to shreds by several swords from the Gate of Babylon.

"I was hoping you Fairies hadn't forgotten us," Sherry said with a chuckle. "But do try to forget who I was. I have been reborn by the power of love."

“Oh look, the fourth-rate guild has deigned to show up,” Lucy remarked snidely.

“Who are you calling fourth rate?” Sherry demanded.

“Obviously Lamia Scale, even then, you're only fourth because of Jura being a member of yurt guild.” Lucy replied casually, infuriating Lyon and Sherry further.

“Wait so what about us?” Ren asked.

“Blue Pegasus is a third rate, you get extra points for the theatrics if nothing else,” Lucy replied.

“So what, Fairy Tail is the best is that what you’re saying?” Eve demanded.

“Any guild that has me as a member is obviously the best, how can it possibly be any other way?” Lucy asked.

“Wait, so whose second?” Hibiki inquired.

“I’m reserving second place for a guild that catches my eye and right now none of you clowns do.”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY!” “ALRIGHT I’VE HAD ENOUGH TIME TO TAKE YOU DOWN A PEG!” “WE’LL SHOW YOU THIRD/ FOURTH RATE!” The other wizards began yelling, though Lyon was suddenly challenged by Gray. Erza was about to try and calm everything down but found herself having to fend off Ichiya again.

"Let's go, Lyon," Gray growled through his teeth.

"My pleasure." His rival said back.

"Let's go..." Natsu egged on the Trimen who glared at him.

"I could never love you..." Sherry said to Lucy who simply ignored her in favour fo glaring at Ichiya who was once again bother Erza.

Tensions were high in the room until a staff slammed onto the ground.

"Enough!" Everyone turned to the entrance to a bald man in scaled clothing. "We're here to work together as a group to destroy the Oración Seis. This is not the time for us to fight amongst ourselves!"

"Yes, Jura..." Lyon acknowledged with a nod.

"Jura?" Erza echoed the name.

"Who?" Natsu asked.

“Iron Rock Jura, he’s ranked seventh amongst the Ten Wizard Saints.” Lucy replied.

“Ms Lucy, It’s a pleasure to see you again, I made a visit to Lady Layla’s grave the other day to pay my respects,” Jura said inclining his head.

“As you should, you are only in this position because of what she taught you,” Lucy replied.

"So four from Fairy Tail, four from Blue Pegasus and three from Lamia Scale." Sherry bragged at the numbers. "Funny our guild only needed to send three members."

“A fourth-rate guild incapable of taking an operation seriously? Well somebody stop the presses.” Lucy stated angering Sherry more.

"Three guilds have shown up," Jura said trying to keep order. "The members from Cait Shelter have yet to show up."

"About that, I've heard they're only sending one," Ichiya told them.

"Just one?" Erza wondered.

"A single wizard!?" Gray asked shocked. "We're up against a powerful group and they're only sending one member!?"

A short cry caught everyone's attention. They turned to the door and stared at a girl with long blue hair who was lying face down on the ground having tripped and fell. She suddenly stood up and brushed herself off.

"Hi, Sorry, I'm late." She nervously said. "I come from the Cait Shelter Guild. My name is Wendy Marvell. It's nice to meet you all."

There was long stunned silence, which was broken, by the sound of Lucy who suddenly burst out laughing like she’d been told the funniest joke in the world.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.

"Wendy..." Natsu stared at the girl firmly, something was nagging him, like somehow he knew her from somewhere.

"Alright." Jura spoke up unphased. "Now that all the guilds are present, we can begin."

"You're not even phased by this?!" Gray yelled.

"Obviously not." Lyon said.

"What in the world is Cait Shelter thinking, sending a little girl on this kind of mission?" Sherry asked aloud. "They must really be hurting for members if they sent her here on her own."

"She isn't alone!" Another voice shouted as everyone looked at what was behind Wendy. "You shouldn't jump to conclusions, gaudy trollop."

"A Cat..." Lyon mumbled.

"She's just like Happy." Natsu added.

"Stupid cat I'm not gaudy." Sherry mumbled back childishly.

"Carla" Wendy spoke up. "You followed me here?"

"Of course I did, you are far too young to be travelling unaccompanied child." Carla stated.

"Pretty kitty..." The Trimens said unison.

Carla turned and looked over at Happy before his eyes turned into hearts. She quickly turned away and a shiver ran down his spine. He immediately went to Gray trying to get the Ice Wizard to speak to Carla for him.

"I'm sorry..." Wendy spoke up. "I know I'm not what you expected. I know I'm smaller and younger than all of you. I can fight, but I'm better at using support magic. So Please, let me join the group! I'd be so embarrassed if you sent me home!"

"You'll never gain their respect if you can't show confidence, child." Carla scolded.

"I'm sorry Carla." Wendy mumbled.

"I swear, you'll drive me to catnip." The snow coloured cat said before looking to Lucy who was still laughing. "And just what are you still laughing at?"

Erza tensed up, in case Lucy took offence to Carla's tone, but instead her laughing finally died down.

"Seriously, I know she's just a kid, but it's not that funny." Gray commented.

"Oh, I wasn't laughing at that, I just found something else really funny." Lucy answered wiping a tear of laughter from her eye.

"What is it?" Natsu asked "I wanna laugh too."

"You'll see, when this mission really gets going." Lucy replied giving a look at Wendy before walking over to the front doors.

"Forgive me. But I was under the impression that your guild had a Heroic Spirit Reincarnate amogst its ranks, will they not be accompanying us?" Jura inquired.

"No, that person is currently grounded." Carla replied sharply.

"But-"

"No!" Carla snapped "Their reckless antics could have gotten you killed!"

"But those guys were defeated-"

"They were subordinates of the Oracion Seis, what if they had gone to them and brought their wrath down upon Cait Shelter!" Carla yelled causing Wendy to flinch "Our guild is not combat oriented, we would have been wiped out! The punishment stands, we will call on that person if the need arises but until then they remain grounded am I clear!"

"Y-yes, Carla." Wendy conceded, looking at the ground.

"Child, I was worried sick you when you two ran off, good intentions won't shield you from harm." Carla said letting out a sigh.

"I know, I'm sorry." Wendy mumbled.

"You sense it too?" Ichiya asked Jura. "That girls parfume is unique. She's no ordinary child."

"I sensed that almost immediately." The Wizard Saint nodded. "The magic she possesses is different from our own. Seems Erza has noticed her power as well."

Gray walked over to Natsu, who looked deep in thought. "Keep that up and your face will stick like that."

"It's weird." The pinkette mumbled. "I feel like I've heard that girls name before, but I can't remember where."

"Really?" Gray asked as Natsu deepened his thoughts. "Stop doing that. It's creepy."

"Hey, can you remember her for me?" Natsu asked.

"How would I do that!?" Gray shouted. Natsu turned back to the girl and she smiled and waved.

"It's unladylike to smile at strange men, Wendy." Carla said.

"I was just being friendly." Wendy nervously said back.

"Agreed." Ichiya nodded. "Our first order of business, determining the location of the Oración Seis. Right after I go to the bathroom." He said quickly slinking out of the room.

It took an unusually short time for Ichiya to return, Jura's grip on his staff tightened, unnoticed to most others.

"And I'm back." Ichiya popped back. "Now, pay attention. To the north lies the Worth Woodsea."

Lucy meanwhile began rather loudly, fiddling with her hair, her back facing the open front door.

"An ancient people sealed a powerful magic there; its name is NirvaNAAGHHH!" However just as Erza was about to reprimand Lucy, she flicked her hair, creating a small gap through which something small and quick flew and struck Ichiya directly in the head, sending him flying back to crash into the stairs.

He lay there unmoving to the shock of all present, an arrow firmly in his forehead.

"Who did this?!"

"Did the Seis find us already?!"

There was a mixture of yelling, some of it scared some of it angry that filled the room. Gray, Jura, Erza and Natsu however looked in Lucy's direction where the arrow had come from.

"Calm down." Lucy said coolly turning to face them and revealing familiar Rune knight with tinges of orange in his now unruly hair, holding his side, and a crossbow in his free hand. "It's just Lahar."

"Even if you are a Rune Knight, you have no authority to simply murder a guild wizard like that!" Gray yelled.

"Get up, playing dead doesn't suit you." Lahar growled limping forward and ignoring Gray and the other wizards who were angry at his attack. He raised his crossbow at ichiya's body. "Or do you need another shot?"

"Listen you…" Hibiki was cut off by the sound of small pop, there was a puff of smoke where Ichiya's body was and when it cleared there were two blue beings floating in the air.

"He caught up." Gemi said

"That was fast. Mini agreed.

"I thought he'd drop dead." Gemi stated.

"What the hell?"

"What is this?"

"Be quiet," Lucy shouted cutting across the loud yells of surprise from the others in the room. "Meet the Celestial Spirit of the Twins, Gemini, they're two individuals of the same Celestial Spirit, their speciality is copying, they can mimic a person's, appearance, abilities, magic and any knowledge that they are acutely aware. However they can't mimic people who are more powerful than their current contractor. Which means you are too weak to mimic, me, Erza or Lahar, due to us being reincarnates and your master being ordinary."

"She's got us there." Gemi said.

"Welp, let's get outta here and report back." Mini suggested,

"Wait-" before Lahar could do anything however, the twin spirits poofed back into the Celestial Spirit World safe from harm.

"So where's master Ichiya?" Ren asked.

"Gemini can't mimic the dead so he's alive and probably nearby." Lucy replied looking over Lahar.

The Trimens quickly went into action, it didn't take long for them to find him Ichiya knocked out in the bathroom. They brought him out lay him down on the sofa to rest.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Deciding to leave Ichiya behind the group had decided to go on ahead to the point where the Trimens said, Blue Pegasus ace in the hole, was waiting. Lahar had his wounds bandaged up but insisted on coming with them, wishing to bring the Seis to justice.

"So what is this Nirvana thing, that the fake was gonna tell us about?" Gray asked as they walked on through the forest.

Well, expect for Lucy who flew about them on her Vimana.

"Other than its name, we don't know much about this magic." Ren spoke up. "Or it's destructive nature."

"Whatever it does, the Oración Seis want it badly." Eve added.

"We assume that's why they've gone to the Worth Woodsea." Hibiki continued to explain. "They are desperate to get their hands on whatever this magic does."

"So, we must destroy the Oración Seis before they can get their hands on Nirvana." Erza said.

"We have the advantage in numbers, but we cannot underestimate them." Hibiki warned. "We may well be in over our heads." He snapped his fingers and a keyboard appeared.

"Is that Archive Magic?" Lyon asked. "Don't think I've ever seen it before."

"What does it do?" Sherry asked.

Screens popped up, showing pictures of six people.

"Storing information, such as these photos of our enemies." Hibiki explained. "Don't ask how we got them. First up is, Cobra."

"Beady eyes. Mischievous smirk." Natsu mumbled. "I don't trust him."

"That's the pot calling the kettle black." Lyon and Gray said at the same time.

"Next is a wizard who probably uses some sort of speed magic, based on his name." Hibiki continued. "Racer."

"I don't know what it is, but this guy rubs me the wrong way." Gray spoke up.

"Same with me." Lyon added.

"Next is a wizard who's willing to wipe out an entire army, if the price is right." Hibiki changed pictures. "Hoteye."

"The guy kills for money?" Sherry asked.

"Turns my stomach." Jura added.

"She's gorgeous, but just as deadly." Hibiki said about the only girl. "Angel."

"A simple thief, she'll get hers." Lucy commented darkly.

"We don't know anything about this next member other than his name." Hibiki continued. "Midnight."

"An odd name." Erza said. "I wonder if it has something to do with his powers."

"Finally, the leader of this group." Hibiki pulled up the last picture. "Brain. And that's it. Alone, they can wipe out whole guilds and together, they're unstoppable." The screens shut off and dissipated. "We have thirteen to their six, but that's the only advantage we have."

"Seven, now counting Jellal." Lahar pointed out

"Can I please go home?" Wendy asked on verge of tears.

"We have a job to do, child, so no!" Carla scolded.

"So far, we haven't found their hideout. But we know they must have one." Ren said

"And what do we do when we've found it?" Erza asked.

"Then use Christina to blow them to bits" Eve replied

"The magic bomber?" Sherry asked. "I thought it was just a myth."

"And that is why your guild is fourth rate, because they let imbeciles like you go on missions like this." Lucy snarked from above.

"Why don't you come down here and say that?!" Sherry screamed at her.

"A king does not lower herself to the level of trash." Lucy replied simply, causing Sherry to become even more annoyed.

"There it is." Jura pointed upwards as they stopped short of the cliff.

Hovering just above them was a magic airship in the shape of a Pegasus which was mostly blue with white as a secondary colour. But to Eve something seemed off, evidenced by the loud 'hmmm' he let out.

"What's the matter Eve?" Ren inquired.

"Say, did we leave Christina facing the cliff rather than the path?" Eve said looking up at the air which was indeed facing the path.

"What's happening?" Wendy asked suddenly.

"Look." Gray pointed at the airship, which now seemed to be changing colour, like a wave of sickness a blackness was spreading across Christina, turning blue and white into black with red veins, the eyes turning red as well.

"What's happening to it?" Wendy asked

When the process was complete the airship looked positively evil, like a weapon of destruction, rather than an ace of a magic guild of the light.

"EVERYONE MOVE!" Erza yelled causing everyone to suddenly run to the side, those that were not quick enough found themselves riding the blast of wind caused by an explosion of purple energy where they were standing mere seconds before.

Some of the Allied Forces found themselves sent skidding across the ground and coming to a stop themselves, others were thrown into the trees nearby which had been wrenched from the ground by the blast.

"What the hell was that?" Natsu grumbled.

"Someone's hijacked Christina!" Hibiki growled as Christina accelerated and flew above their heads.

"Not just anyone, it must be Jellal at the controls." Erza said watching Christina fly behind the group.

"But where is he going?" Wendy asked.

"To fight the one he's best matched for." Erza answered looking up at where Lucy's Vimana was hovering.

"How is he doing that?" Eve wondered "Christina isn't made to go that fast."

"It's his ability, as a hero." Lahar replied watching the blackened Christina climb higher and higher.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Lucy glanced down at the Christina and the black knight piloting her, zooming at her position.

"Just because you are no longer a mad dog, do not think that this will be a repeat of last time." Lucy stated pushing a button and shifting the Vimana into active mode causing the wings to extend. "After all you are still a lowly dog."

With that the Vimana snapped upwards and began climbing higher, much faster than Christina. She began zigzagging through the air, avoiding the purple orbs of magic energy from Christina's weapons which abruptly exploded, forcing Lucy's evasions to be even wider and sharper whenever another orb quickly got in front of her or close to her other side.

Not that Lucy took this lying down, she opened the Gate of Babylon and rained Noble Phantasms behind her, forcing Jellal to stop firing and using Knight of Honour to push the magic bomber, increased its speed, allowing it to break through a gap in the tightly-knit screen of Noble Phantasms.

Though avoided, Lucy's Noble Phantasms did not lose their lethality. Three of them—an axe, a scythe, and a scimitar—which were spinning around, changed direction and began giving chase, closing in on Christina.

The axe was first, and smashed through the walls into the bridge. Taking one hand off the steering wheel the black knight swiftly grabbed it and used it to deflect the scimitar which exploded and then tossed it at the scythe which also blew up. When the smoke cloud from the Noble Phantasms destruction cleared, Jellal gripped the steering wheel with both hands, as he saw Lucy had turned around and was now diving straight for him.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Magic energy bombs and Noble Phantasms crashed down from above, exploding upon impact and kicking up smoke and dirt. Forcing the group to take cover.

"The Oración Seis."

"Some lowly maggots have gathered." Brain said in disgust.

"The sooner we're done with this, the better." Racer said. "I'll run you over so fast, your head will spin."

"In this world, money determines strength, oh yeah." Hoteye added. "Save a penny today, and it will turn into a fortune in the future-"

"Shut up." Cobra and Racer said.

Midnight merely snored on his floating carpet.

"I didn't expect you to show yourselves." Erza confessed.

Natsu cracked his knuckles in anticipation. "Ready?"

"Always." Gray nodded.

"Waiting for an invitation?" Cobra taunted.

"That face is enough for us!" Both shouted as they charged simultaneously

"Deal with them." Brain ordered.

"Got it." Racer disappeared before reappearing between the duo. " **Motor!"** He spun his legs and kicked them, sending them crashing to the ground.

"Sherry!" Lyon shouted he began charging forward.

"Right." She nodded in agreement joining her crush.

Hoteye opened his eyes.

"I see you." He said as the ground beneath the two became a liquid akin to mud. "All you need is money! Oh, yeah!"

"What is this, quicksand?" Lyon asked in disgust.

"This is revolting." Sherry complained. "Grab my hand love."

"I'll deal with Angel." Hibiki said as the Trimen raced towards the feather clad wizard.

"No, I will!" Eve shouted.

"What does 'deal with' mean?" Ren asked.

Quickly Racer shot towards them and took them all out one at a time.

"If you're slow, you'll be eatin my dust." The blonde warned.

"Oh, you've come crawling back, do you want to join your men that badly?" Angel chuckled at Lahar who was glaring and aiming his crossbow at her.

"You're going to pay for every single one of them." Lahar vowed "Then I'll take you in."

"Oooh Scary," Angel chuckled "Gemini."

"Piri, piri." The twin spirits appeared upon command and in a puff of smoke, became Lahar.

"What, but how?" Lahar growled.

"Your magic power is unstable at the moment," Gemini replied pointing a copy of his crossbow at him "Which means, reincarnate or not we can turn into you and use your abilities. It takes months even years for late awakening reincarnates power to stabilise."

A heartbeat later, and two arrows collided directly with each other and both the leapt into the trees, arrows flying from different angels and different treetops. Angel smirked and readied another key, waiting for the opportunity to present itself.

"Enough of this," Jura bellowed, putting his hands together and readying his magic power. "Iron Rock-"

Jura was cut off as Christina which was diving low abruptly fired a blast at him, it impacted the pillars of rock before him, and turned them to dust at the blast exploded sending Jura flying through several trees before falling unconscious at he came to stop.

Christina pulled up and went back into the sky, Lucy's Vimana in hot pursuit.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Erza gathered the invisible air around a sword form her armoury, she felt Excalibur might be overkill in this situation, and so invisible sword in hand. She charged at Cobra and swung, only for him to calmly dodge it at the last second. Not letting this stop her continued her assault, slashing at Cobra repeatedly only for him to keep dancing out of the way, almost like he…

"Knows where you're going to attack?" Cobra laughed answering her thought for her.

Erza narrowed her eyes at him, and call upon her reincarnate abilities, which gave her speed and strength beyond normal wizards and renewed her assault. However, once again her attacks were dodged.

"Surprised, I'll let you in a little secret, you see this isn't our first encounter with reincarnates." Cobra told her "One of our allies in Grimoire Heart, gave me an enchantment that lets me keep up with reincarnates. It's best used when I'm fighting one, cause if not then I have to use my own magic power to keep it active."

"And why are you telling me such useful information?" Erza said as she pressed her attack on Cobra.

"Because there's nothing you can do about it." Cobra taunted as he kept avoiding her attacks. "Especially as I can hear everything, including your next move is going to be."

Erza suddenly fell forward as Racer appeared and kicked her in the back, Cobra took the opportunity to punch her in the stomach hard causing her to fall forwards and drop her sword, her eyes looked around as regained her balance, and the invisible air sheathing the sword suddenly exploded outwards causing little more a light breeze to blow over the combatants.

Cobra's eyes widened "Racer watch it!" He yelled in warning.

But it was too late, Racer was unable to react quickly enough and stopped short of his attack, he dangled in the air, Erza's gauntlet clad hand locked firmly around his throat.

"I-impossible, h-how did-GGAKK!" Racer could barely get out his sentence as her unrelenting grip was choking him.

"It was that invisible air, that she uses for her sword, she used it like a radar to figure where you were coming FROM!" Cobra swiping at Erza only for her to lock her free arm around his attacking one, trapping him in place.

'Damn it, if I use my free arm, she'll definitely tear this one off, but I'm not done yet.'

"You've got two us, but what about the third?" Cobra grinned,

Erza simply glared at him, and suddenly bent over backwards, as Cubellios flew over her chest, missing its bite at her. The snake turned around prepared to try again, but this time Erza was ready, and Cobra realised this too late. He felt him being spun around, when Cubellios leapt at her Erza had spun on her right foot, so the serpent would go across her chest again, but this time she was ready. So when the snake came passing by she bit down on its nape, holding it place leaving Cubellios unable to turn its head and bite or spew poison.

"You bitch, CUBELLIOS GO!" Cobra gathered a purplish smog around his free hand and punched Erza in the stomach, but she didn't budge, thankfully her magic armour kept the poison at bay, for now.

'That hurt more than usual, dragon slayer magic?' Erza wondered. 'It has to be a trump card, he must be desperate if he brought it out so early.'

"It is, but I don't care, even if reveal all of my secrets, I'LL MAKE YOU RELEASE CUBELLIOS!" Cobra bellowed and began punching a bit faster.

'So you can hear my thoughts, surrender and I'll release you both, refuse and I'll take your arm.' Erza threatened him.

"Surrender, to light guild trash, never, not even if it costs me my arm!" Cobra growled and began increasing the speed of his punch even further.

Erza responded by locking her hand onto his upper arm, all while ignoring Racer who she unconsciously had lessened her grip on and had begun kicking to try and break free. Cobra momentarily paused as the pain caused him to flinch. Her grip was like steel, and it was still getting tighter. If this continued he'd lose his arm and Cubellios, so he slowed down his attacks in favour of power, making them as strong and he could, praying that his poison would finally get to her and force her to let go.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Brain looked around at the battles going on with the guilds of light. Jellal had managed to incapacitate the Wizard Saint and was currently engaging Heartfilla in the skies. Angel was fighting the Rune Knight, who was now awakened as a reincarnate. Hoteye was dealing with a pair of ice wizards and doll wizard who kept babbling about love. Racer had taken out the three fools in suits but was now himself caught by Titania, who was locked in battle with Cobra at the same time. Meanwhile the idiot fire dragon slayer was trying and failing to fight Midnight who was still asleep.

"Wendy, what are you doing?" a voice asked, which brain saw belong to white cat accompanying Wendy Marvell, the Sky Dragon Slayer of Cait Shelter.

"I've gotta join the fight." Brain looked around but couldn't see her. " **Sky Dragons Wing Attack!** "

He looked up raised his staff, blocking the pair of whirlwinds that came at him.

"You are punching above your weight class little girl." Brain warned gathering darkness in his staff and pointing it up at her. " **Dark Capriccio!** "

" **Sky Dragons Claw!** " Wendy kicked downwards generating a large wind.

Wendy's attack was unable to overpower brains but was able to knock it off course.

" **Dark Rondo!** " Brain yelled pointing his staff at Wendy, who was suddenly hit from below by horror stricken ghosts coming up from the ground.

Wendy cried out in pain from the attack, but gathered her magic once more.

"Sky Dragon-UGH!" Wendy was stopped as Brain jabbed his staff into her chest knocking the wind out of her lungs and grabbing her by the throat and, squeezing tight.

"Wendy!" Carla cried out fatefully as Brain held her in his grip.

"Enough of this." Brain said turning his head towards the sky and shouting "JELLAL, ENOUGH PLAYING AROUND UP THERE, DO IT NOW!"

Christina turned out of the dog fight it was in and began heading for a spot deep in the forest. However, this was a mistake, as seven beams of light impacted Christina from the Vimana, causing to begin exploding and crash land. Few noticed the burning magic bomber returning to normal as a black speck fell deep into the forest.

Turning back to the girl in his grasp Brain grinned.

"Wendy, your time is up as well." He laughed, gathering darkness in his other hand preparing the finishing blow.

Carla was panicking, if she did nothing Wendy would die, but releasing, 'him' had its own cons. But there no choice, he was the only one who could save Wendy now.

"Sky Dragon Seal: Release!" Carla incanted holding out her paw to Wendy causing a white magic circle to appear briefly "You take care of Wendy, if she's hurt you'll be sorry!"

A corresponding magic circle appeared around Wendy before shattering and vanishing. Brain covered his eyes as a white light flowed over Wendy before quickly fading away.

"What's this? What's happening?" Brain demanded as Wendy began changing before him.

Her blue hair changed to pink with streaks of white in it, her skin darkened becoming a light tan colour, and her brown eyes, gained a few noticeable flecks of gold in them, deep within those eyes Brain swore, he could see a figure upon a hill, with countless swords surrounding them impaled into the ground.

Brain was snapped back to reality by Wendy mumbling something.

"What?"

"Trace on!" In a flash of blue light, a pair of swords appeared in her hands one black and the other white.

The black sword was covered in a hexagonal pattern, and, the white sword seemed to have a strange cloudy haze upon its metal. Faster than he could react, she slashed, slicing at his left eye, forcing him to let go and grasp at his eye in pain and horror. She kicked off his chest and back flipped away from, now in a battle-ready stance.

"My eye, MY EYE!" Brain screamed enraged at his wound, he briefly removed his hand and kept the eye shut, blood covered the hand and he quickly covered the bloody eye again. His cries attracted the attention of his subordinates and provoked a twitch from Midnight.

Erza used this momentary distraction toss up Racer and punch him away hard with the hand she previously held him with. He flew and skipped across the ground skidding to a halt as he impacted a tree. Then, before he could stand, an arrow came forma tree and impacted his shoulder, causing him to freeze up.

"That one was coated with a paralytic poison," Lahars voice called from a tree "You won't be going anywhere except to prison Racer."

A shadow darted out of the tree was destroyed a second later by an energy blast, from Caelum in its cannon form which Angel summoned during the fighting.

"No, Racer has been defeated, that leaves only five prayers." Brain gasped holding his face as one of the lines upon his face vanished.

Cobra took advantage however as well and used his trapped and close to breaking arm summoning his poison dragon slayer magic into it and gripped Erza's hand hoping to damage her before she tore it off.

Then the ground began rumbling, causing another pause in the fighting.

"Why's everything shaking?" Natsu asked.

"Is it an earthquake?" Gray wondered.

"I don't know what you are." Brain growled at the pink haired Wendy "BUT YOU'RE TOO LATE NIRVANA IS OURS!"

A large white pillar erupted from deep within the forest and stretched to the sky, drawing everyone's attention. There were a few smaller black pillars which came from other spots coiled around it.

Lucy who had settled to watch the fighting from above turned to face the pillar herself.

Looking around, Brain saw the situation and made a quick decision. He'd already lost one prayer, he could risk losing the other five.

"ORACION SEIS RETREAT!" Brain commanded his eyes turning red. "DARK MOMENT!"

Angel, Midnight and Brain retreated, leaving behind Racer and Cobra who was still trapped in Erza's grip. They both heard it, the sounding of something spinning through the air, they looked and in the darkness saw a flaming sword headed straight for both of them. Thinking fast, Cobra untangled his arm and moved as far away as Erza would allow and quickly, the flaming sword sliced off the arm and cauterized the wound.

The pain was intense but Cobra used his remaining arm to punch Erza, forcing her to release Cubellios allowing them both to run off and escape with their comrades. By the time it was over and darkness was gone everyone simply sighed, while Wendy dropped her battle stance.

Erza looked at the severed arm and at the flaming sword responsible, it vanished in a familiar storm of golden particles, causing her to glare up at Lucy who looked wholly unrepentant.

"Why did you do that?" She demanded with annoyance "He got away and now they're going to Nirvana!"

She got no response, Lucy merely narrowing eyes, she was glaring down at the Pink Haired Wendy, entirely ignoring everything else. Wendy looked back up at her, and the word which came out her mouth cause her swords to get into a battle stance again.

"Faker." Lucy said the word, as if it was repulsive and something to be despised.


	26. Nirvana Arisews

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.**

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The tension was in the air was thick. Lucy glaring down at Wendy, who Erza realised was holding a pair of very familiar swords. Kanshou and Bakuya. The pair of blades wielded by only two people Erza knew of.

"Archer?" She guessed.

However before she could receive an answer, Wendy, crossed the blades as a shield, a continuous green beam came from an open portal over Lucy's shoulder. She held her ground but was slowly being pushed back, finally there was a loud metallic crack. The cracking sound continued until both swords shattered like glass forcing Wendy to dodge to the side as the green beam stopped.

A flash of blue light and Kanshou and Bakuya were in her hands again.

"No, it's Shirou." She greeted Erza with a smile. "It's good to see you again Saber."

"A-Watch out!" Erza cried jumping in front of her and using her sword to deflect a green bolt from the portal. "That's enough, we have a job to do, let your grudge go we have more important things to deal with now, we must stop Nirvana."

"Nothing is more important than the humiliation I received at the hands of this fraud!" Lucy yelled angrily, more portals opening behind her. "But it won't go like last time, I don't have the mud which made my body, clogging my mind this time. I've changed my tactics, I won't be showing you anything you can copy this time!"

More portals opened, and a rain of magical bolts fired from them. Shirou moved, quickly dodging and weaving to avoid being hit.

"I AM THE ORIGINAL, THE FIRST HERO EVER, OBSERVATION OF THIS HIGH CALIBUR FOR ME IS SIMPLE!" Lucy bellowed angrily as Shirou suddenly tossed Bakuya only for it to be destroyed by a powerful magical bolt before it could get close. "I can see that what your 'projection' is doing to that girl's body."

Shirou growled but moved to of the way of a hail of magical bolts.

"You can't trace my magical guns as long as they remain in within my treasury and fire out of it." The bolts chased Shirou as she ran, even doing flips and jumps as the rain of bolts followed her, changing directions as the portals swung to keep facing her.

"You didn't reincarnate, properly did you?" Lucy growled as her shots obliterated a tree which Shirou had darted behind. "Your soul went into that girl's body after she had already been born, that's why her body isn't like ours, why you need that transformation."

Magical bolts shredded the ground as Shirou made a charge at Lucy, only to be cut off by portals appearing in front of her.

"You didn't seriously think thousand-year-old trick that would work did you?" Lucy asked with a smirk "I invented that trick, you'll have to do a lot better than that if you want to beat me this time Faker!"

"Faker, what does she mean by that?" Gray asked walking to Erza's side and looking at the scene.

"And more importantly, what's going on here?" Natsu asked confused as he came up to her other side. "Why did Wendy transform, and why is Lucy pissed at her?"

"Wendy is like Lucy, Lahar and me, a reincarnate, named Shirou Emiya." Erza explained "The transformation may have something to do with their current situation. As to why she hates her, well that's two-fold. Firstly, Shirou defeated her in battle, in a past life, second, she did it by copying Lucy's weapons, fakes. It's her magical power, to be able to copy and reproduce any weapon at will as long she's seen it once."

"Yup, that sounds like it would piss her off." Gray let out a sigh. "But what now, you can't just let this go on, we have a job to do and The Oracion Seis have started to awaken Nirvana!"

"Yes, we do." Erza nodded before charged into the fray.

Shirou kept running but she was getting tired. She abruptly stopped as thirty portals opened in front of her. They fired. But instead of being hit by the magical bolts a blur appeared, there was a burst of magic power and they were all deflected.

"Lucy that's enough," Erza said commanding, holding her invisible sword in front of her. "We have a job to do."

"Tch!" Lucy clicked her tongue and surprisingly, conceded, and closed the Gate of Babylon. "This is pointless anyway, you aren't able to make your fakes properly, they're hollow, like glass. You're projecting them, not bringing them from your Reality Marble. Crushing you now would be pointless, revenge wouldn't be satisfying unless you are at your best and the only solution for the problem you have is for you and that annoying Archer to confront each other again."

"Archer?" Shirou repeated with surprise. "He's here?"

"Do what you wish, but know this, if you don't confront our counterpart then you will kill that little girl you are inhabiting," Lucy told him before her shoes chanted to a pair of boots. "I'm going on ahead, you fools will just slow me down."

With that, Lucy jumped leaping high into the air and jumping off into the ocean of trees in the direction of the pillar of light, eventually leaving sight.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"So Sa-Erza, whats up with her?" Shirou asked after a few seconds of silence "Has she decided to just get along be friends or something?"

"Friend is a strong word," Erza replied reluctantly.

"Yeah, too strong," Gray mumbled.

"I'd say her relationship with most people in this world, is the same between a spoiled child and a new puppy dog. She'll be kind as long it keeps her amused." Erza stated.

"So she can be trusted?"

"I'll set her straight if I have too," Erza said reassuringly.

"Enough!" A Carla shrieked flying over to Shirou and smacking her on the head. "You've done quite enough, get rid of those swords this instant!"

"Sorry." Shirou apologised dismissing Kanshou and Bakuya.

"She mentioned a problem, something to do with your Reality Marble, what did she mean?" Erza asked.

"What Gilgamesh…Lucy said was true. Eerily so." Shirou said with a sigh. "When I reincarnated, Wendy's soul was already in her body, she was only five years old when I came along. When Grandeeney the Sky Dragon and Wendy's mother realised what happened, she placed a seal on me. One which Carla currently holds the key too. I wasn't released until after Wendy hatched Carla and she got the key to seal. But when I was free there was a problem. A big one."

"What is the problem?" Jura inquired.

"Imagine there are two paths when it comes to projection, the left path is the manual way of doing it all myself. The right path is drawing the weapons from the Blade Works where they're ready and waiting, the problem I have is that instinctively I take one step down the Right path whenever I try to project before correcting myself and going down the left path, and all of those 'one steps' start to add up. So unless I solve the problem, the Blade Works will infest Wendy's body and kill her." Shirou told them sadly.

"Oh man," Natsu said looking at the ground.

"And there's no way to fix this?" Gray asked.

"Well, I didn't think there was one, so if Gil….Lucy is telling the truth, then there's no way to stop this other than to fight that cynical asshole-OW!" Shirou rubbed her head as Carla gave her a smack.

"I don't need Wendy picking up your coarse language." Carla admonished her with a glare.

"If Archer is here, then he's keeping a low profile," Erza told them. "I haven't heard anything about a red reincarnate using a bow and swords."

"The Council keeps track of reincarnates, or tries too anyway," Lahar spoke up. "The last bow using reincarnate according to Council records, before me, was a woman named Atalanta, she died about a hundred years ago."

Suddenly a massive tremor shook the entire forest sending nearly all of them to their knees. The pillar of light had grown and now the smaller dark pillars were gone leaving the remaining larger pillar a pure white colour.

"We need to hurry this up." Gray yelled urgently "Our time is running out."

"You're not going anywhere flies!" A familiar voice yelled down at the group.

Floating in the air was Erigor, who'd avoided being arrested along with the rest of his guild. In the trees below him, standing on the branches were numerous dark wizards with different guild marks. There were over a dozen that they could see, along with more than fifty shadows waiting in the forest behind them.

"Erigor of Eisenwald." Lahar glared at him. "You ran away like a coward leaving your guildmates to be arrested after you were beaten black and blue by Natsu Dragneel."

"It was a tactical retreat! I live to fight another day while those other morons are rotting cells." Erigor growled.

"These must be the subordinate guild to the Oracion Seis," Hibiki commented looking around and at the wizards who had surrounded them.

"They don't look so tough." Lyon commented, "This should be quick."

"Hey, boss!" A bald monkey looking wizard yelled pointing at Shirou. "She's the one, she ruined the robbery at the merchant guild!"

"That little girl is the reason we had to waste all that cash to bust you morons out of jail!" Another monkey looking wizard with an afro asked incredulously. "You're even more pathetic than I thought."

"We'll smash her and beat him more later." Another one with long, fluffy, albeit, spiky hair and no eyebrows said. "We'll smash her and beat him-."

"I heard you the first time!" The one with the afro interrupted.

"Is this really all of them?" Sherry wondered.

"There was one more but they tried to kidnap the ladies of the Heartfilia Manor several years ago," Lahar told them "Three guesses what happened to them."

"Yeesh, I almost feel sorry for them," Sherry said shaking her head.

"Apparently it took months to get all the blood stains off the carpet and walls." Lahar commented.

"Gah times wastin, we need to beat up those Seis cowards…..SO GET OUT OF OUR WAY!" Natsu bellowed igniting a flaming fist and jumping at Erigor

"FIND ANOTHER WAY, FLY!" Erigor roared furiously, as he charged at Natsu his wind magic and scythe both ready.

"LET'S KILL THESE PUNKS!" one of the other wizards yelled.

"YEAH!" The crowd of dark wizards cheered.

Different types of magic ignited, both in the hands of the wizards in view and the ones who were concealed by the trees.

"What will we do about Racer?" Lyon asked remembered the unconscious defeated

"They might try to free him," Ren said. "To try and curry favour with the Seis."

"Worry not," Jura put his hands together and a dome of earth encompassed the paralysed wizard.

"That should hold him until my reinforcements from the Rune Knights come and detain him," Lahar told them.

"Good, then that means we can focus on these fools!" Erza cried preparing her invisible sword.

"They're underestimating us!" One wizard said.

"You'll pay for that you light guild trash!" Another yelled indignantly.

"LET'S GET EM!" With that, the Dark Wizards charged, and the battle began.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Meanwhile, in the Cavern which contained the hiding place where Nirvana was sealed, things were tense.

"OW YOU BITCH!" Cobra cried out.

Mostly anyway.

"Shut up already, you're pretty lucky," Angel told him.

She was in the process of attaching a magical prosthetic arm to replace Cobra's lost one.

"I lost my arm, how is that lucky!" Cobra demanded furiously the pain shooting into him from where Angel was 'operating'.

"Well first one it was the same arm that I lost and it was about the same amount of arm too, Second..." She jabbed one of the sharp instruments into the socket which would attach the limb to the stump causing him to wince again. "…I have spares and Third your arm was Cauterized!"

She jabbed the instrument in again with a grin on her face causing Cobra cry out once more.

"YOU SADISTIC BITCH YOU THINK I CAN'T TELL THAT YOU'RE DOING THIS ON PURPOSE!" Cobra yelled at her with a glare.

"Well, you heard that, so you can also hear that I can make this much worse for you." Angel chuckled. "So either sit still and stop being a baby or I make it worse, what's it to be?"

Cobra gulped and ultimately chose to back down. He knew she wasn't lying, she would make it worse than it needed to be, plus she was the only one outside of kidnapping an expert, who could do this quickly and efficiently. She'd had her own prosthetic for years now.

"I hate you." He grumbled looking away from her.

"Aw, I love you too." She mocked, jabbing the tool one more time before putting it down and grabbing the spare arm. "There done, now we just need to attach this and you'll be good to go."

"Hey, why's it so bland, yours has cool features?" Cobra complained as he saw how bland looking it was.

"This one is still top of the line, why do you think I bought it and the spares?" Angel replied as she began attaching the arm. "It's light, durable and can change itself to match your skin colour and muscle size so it doesn't look out of place, but it's not indestructible so don't get too rough with it."

"Wait, you just said it was durable, how durable!" Cobra demanded to know.

He was frustrated, Angel had long learnt how to keep information from him. So he could only hear her when she wanted to be heard. So now he was left hanging, wondering how much this arm could take. His combat style required far from hand to hand than hers usually did, so how much before the thing broke on its own.

"As for my arm, I learnt how to make those special modifications myself and did them myself." Angel told him "Why would I waste such cool stuff on you?"

"Your arm, you lost it along with those losers you took along years ago when you tried to steal the Golden Gate keys from the Heartfilia manor right?" Cobra said trying to goad her. "That one woman beat you without even laying finger on you, you ran and then lost your arm to that girl."

"Shut up!" Angel yelled angrily before shivering as the memory of that time surfaced. "You wouldn't understand, how could you? You never were in her presence, Layla Heartfilia was a monster, not a human being. The world is better off now that monster is dead trust me."

"You had nightmares for years after that," Cobra pointed out receiving a glare.

"I still have them now and then." Angel shivered as the memories came back to her

" _Hey, I've come for your Gate Keys, hand them over or else." Her younger self-had demanded a dagger in hand as soon as she passed through the doors and found the woman she was looking for._

_Having gotten deeper into the manor she had found Layla. The men she had brought were looking for the girl, the deal was they would get the ransom money and Angel would get the Gate Keys._

_The Tall blond woman, wearing a greenish robe of some sort, simply turned to face her. The moonlight shrouded her face, but a gentle smile could still be seen on her lips._

" _Hey didn't you hear me?" Angel yelled holding up the dagger threateningly "I said-huh?" She felt something strange and saw that the dagger in her hand had crumbled to dust, not shattered into small shards, but turned to dust outright. "W-wha- agh!"_

_Angel fell onto her backside as something pressed down on her. The air felt like it had turned to jelly, she could breathe, she was drowning, she was choking...It was an overbearing weight like the whole world was pressing down on her._

_Looking up Angel knew the woman was the cause of this. It was frightening, this wasn't a woman. This was a demon, a monster. She began losing control, her bladder emptied itself but she didn't care._

_Somehow, she gathered the air her lungs to get a word out._

" _M-MONSTER!" She blubbered, her eyes filled with tears born out of pure terror._

_Then, it stopped. The presence was gone. Angel thought she heard a gasp. But she didn't care. She took the opportunity and scrambled to her feet and bolt out of the door as fast as she could._

_As ran down the long hallway, letting out fearful sobs as she did so. She heard a clacking of heels against the marble floor echoing from behind her, slow and calm like there was no hurry._

_For Angel, this made the whole ordeal even more terrifying. It was like she was in a horror movie and the slow-moving monster was coming for her. A monster tgar would find her no matter where she went. This motivated her to run faster, and consequently sob harder._

_Eventually, she burst through a pair doors that were at the end of the hallway. Inside the room was a scene of carnage that would frighten most grown men. The dark wizards she'd brought were all dead, shredded to meat, or impaled by various weapons. But Angel didn't care, she was far more terrified of the monster chasing her. She spotted a window and ran for it, going past the untouched girl near her age, standing in the centre of the carnage._

_She quickly opened the window and began climbing out of it. The ground wasn't that far. She could make it and sprint away without any serious injuries. There was a boom, like a cannon being fired. Angel looked up as she heard something swishing through the air. As she did, an axe sliced the single arm holding her to the window ledge. She fell onto the grass below and screamed out as blood gushed from the open wound, colouring the grass a shade of crimson._

_Thinking fast, Angel pressed her remaining hand to the wound, in order to try and stem the bleeding. She then quickly ran as fast as she could away from there. Never once looking back._

Angel shook her head, shivering as she tried to get the horrible memory out of her mind and think of something else, anything else. Thankfully a distraction came in the form of a metallic sigh.

She and Cobra watched Jellal kneeling in front of Cosmos who was sitting against a wall. She wasn't tied up, there was no need to with the poison running through her. Jellal tried to talk to her but she was remaining silent and refused to speak. Her pink bangs covered her eyes, shadowing them.

Jellal stood up and walked away disappointed. But as he made his way back to the entrance he stopped and shot Cobra a glare.

"Hey take it easy, my poison doesn't stop her from talking." Cobra told him, putting his hands up as a calming gesture "She's probably giving you the silent treatment cause she's pissed that you're working with the bad guys again. She's a knight or something right?"

He received an angry growl in return.

' _More likely she's being affected by Nirvana._ ' Cobra thought to himself ' _When we first had her, she was such a cry-baby I could hear it even when she wasn't crying openly, but now she's dead silent I can't even hear her what she's thinking. It's gotta Nirvana's power affecting her. The magic that flips darkness and light, alignment flips happens more now that Nirvana is in stage two. It won't be long._ '

There was a loud bang and puff of air as Jellal tried to punch a wall but instead of dust, a cloud of spores covered him and Cobra. Both men coughed as the spores dissipated settling upon them.

Angel snickered at their misfortune as she remained out of range of the spores. She couldn't help but idly wonder if there had always been mushrooms hidden in this cave but dismissed it.

Jellal stormed out, as he did so none of them noticed, the small smile creeping upon Cosmos face.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

As he got out of the cave and into the daylight Jellal let his armour fade away so he could feel the fresh air. Blighting the site was the large white pillar which represented Nirvana's second stage.

"Nirvana's second stage is almost complete." Jellal looked at Hoteye who had spoken, he had a strangely gentle tone to his voice "I can't help but wonder about Nirvana's exact mechanics, we're told it turned light into darkness and vice versa but what does that mean? Does it simply flip people's personalities? If so then did the Nirvits who created it truly care about what was left in their wake?"

"From what I understand, it changes their alignment rather than reversing their personality." Jellal replied, "It does this by tampering with emotions, possibly by affecting the heart."

"Hmmm….if that's the case, and they used it to change all the darkness into light, then where is the balance?" Hoteye asked "magic like this requires balance, for every action, there has to be an equal and opposite reaction. The Nirvits would have used Nirvana to end wars, to do that they would have to change people to light. But if that's the case just who were they turning to darkness to balance it out?"

"I think if we knew that, then we'd know how and why the Nirvits are gone," Jellal replied.

Suddenly, the pillar changed shooting upwards with more intensity and the ground beneath began shaking fiercely.

"Shit!" Jellal ran back into the cave.

"What's happening?" Hoteye wondered before looking down at the ground with eyes. When he used his magic, he saw something massive coming up from under the ground. It hadn't been there before. "Is this….Nirvana?"

It was then that Cobra, Angel, Midnight and Brain came out of the cave. The latter had an eyepatch covering his now missing eye.

"I can hear it."

"At last our hour of glory is now at hand." Brain yelled throwing his hands up into the air "NOW NIRVANA REVEAL YOUR TRUE FACE!"

"Yeah, I hear it!" Cobra yelled as the beam of light became even bigger. "The sound of the future. OF LIGHT CRASHING TO THE GROUND!"

The shaking intensified and the ground split open beneath them all. Jellal just barely made it out of the cave with Cosmos on his back, as it collapsed. Then dust and debris kicked up as they all rose into the sky.

When their vision finally cleared they atop a ruined palace looking out at an ancient city below them which stood upon six massive stone tendrils as legs, which were covered in moss and plant life.

"At long last, I have obtained it!" Brain shouted at the top of his lungs, the Seis behind him "The ultimate weapon which extinguishes light! The legendary reversal magic, Nirvana! Those pathetic light guilds will cling to their piety, but now such things will lose all meaning!"

"Erik!" Jellal grabbed the wizard by his collar and held him up. "Where is the antidote, tell me now or I'll start breaking bones!"

"Relax," Erik told him, as Cubellios appeared behind him. "I had Cubellios hide it, it's in a little house near the edge right over there." Cobra pointed to a small building on the very edge of the ancient city. "Better hurry and get it, this place is a crumbling ruin, when Nirvana starts moving never know what debris might fal and crush it, or maybe the house 'll just fall off Nirvana completely."

Jellal growled and dropped Cobra roughly before setting Cosmos down gently.

"I promise I'll be back with that antidote" Jellal vowed before materialising his armour. Cosmos did not answer him, remaining silent. "If anything happens to her, you'll regret it." With that threat Jellal stomped over some moss, towards the edge, crushing another mushroom and becoming covered in more spores as he did so.

Then with all of his superhuman agility, he jumped off running and jumping in the direction that Cobra had indicated.

Unseen, Cosmos smile grew just a little bit more.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

**AN: It took two months, I'm not satisfied with this chapter, I spent those two months both distracted by video games and trying to find a way for Lucy not to kill Shirou. The way I reason it, Lucy is Gilgamesh from the Fate Route and not the UBW route where Shirou defeated her one on one. She merely observed that route thanks to Sha Nagba Imuru. So this my reasoning, Lucy wants her pride back for being beaten, but can only do that by beating Shirou at her best. Which means waiting for her to be able to use the Blade Works again. Plus this is secondary to winning Saber/Erza's heart.**


	27. March to Destruction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.

As the remainder of the Oracion Seis looked out at the dead cityscape which was spread out below them angel let out a sigh.

"Wow what a dump." She commented on the ugly scenery of ruined buildings, some of which looked like they were built from mud due to effects of time wearing them away.

"Well, what did you expect?" Cobra asked, "This place has been rotting away for four hundred years."

"I'm used to better accommodations than this," Angel replied a disgusted expression on her face.

"At long last Nirvana is on my grasp." Brain said cutting into their conversation. "From this seat of power, I can move this city to anywhere I chose."

"Then where are we going?" Hoteye asked.

"To Era to pay a visit to the Magic Council, but first we'll stop off at a certain guild hall." Brain said with a dark smirk on his face.

"So starting off with a-huh?" Cobra paused and perked up.

"What is it?" Angel asked.

"The Light guilds are finishing off those scrubs down below," Cobra told him. "Sounds like they plan to split off and head up here along with that wizard saint, the weakling will handle those on the ground."

"I see, well, in any case, the lesser guilds I have scattered a great number throughout the city have recalled Erigor to lead them, they should buy us enough time to destroy anyone who may know how to destroy Nirvana." Brain chuckled. "Even so, none of those reincarnates below has a Noble Phantasm capable of destroying Nirvana."

"Noble Phantasm?" Angel looked at Brain questioningly.

"Yes, our allies in Grimoire Heart have shared a bounty of information on the reincarnates and the nature of their powers. I will share with you the information I have on our current enemies."

"Would'a been nice to know this secret information before Jellal pounded us into the ground." Cobra snarked, only to be met with Brains staff slamming into his stomach hard, causing him to double over in pain.

"Well Cobra, the problem with that is that 'some' of you can't keep your mouths shut." Brain spoke looking at him intently. "You might have risked our advantage, and now it is saved for when we need it. Now be silent and listen closely to what I have to say."

Cobra nodded and fell to his knees when Brain removed his staff from his gut and began breathing heavily.

"But first." Brain spread out his arms. "Nirvana begin your march now! Transform my darkness into light!" At this command many strange magic circles began to appear, they multiplied until they formed a ring around the royal throne section of Nirvana. Then a larger screen appeared before Brain, it was like archive magic but far older in design.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Man there's no end to these guys," Natsu complained as he punched a dark wizard away with a flaming fist. "Plus that asshole Erigor ran away!"

"Ah quit complaining," Gray yelled freezing a few more. "We need to get up to Nirvana and stop that thing!"

"Lyon. Gray, you and the others handle things here." Jura ordered "Erza, Lahar, Wendy, Natsu and Myself shall go up to Nirvana and stop the Oracion Seis.

"On it," Gray confirmed.

"Roger." Lyon nodded.

"Alright, let's go." Erza said as she got close to Jura, Along with Wendy, Natsu, Carla, Happy and Lahar."

Jura clapped his hands together and magic circle briefly appeared near them before a large stone hand emerged from the ground beneath them and began lifting the five up into the air, rising higher and higher. Even after ten seconds of ascending they were barely halfway up one of Nirvana's huge legs when suddenly the city began moving. Its immense leg pulling itself out of the ground and moving forward cause the ground as well the wizards on the makeshift elevator to lose their balance and fall over.

"Damn it, it's started moving." Lahar cursed, as Nirvana began to cover more and more ground with each step of its legs.

"Hang on, the landing will be rough!" Jura declared a magic circle appearing around his hands.

The stone hand suddenly rose up far faster than it had been, it got faster and faster, causing Natsu to become motion sick, before finally flinging the five humans and two cats into the air. They were briefly together in the air above Nirvana before falling separately into the ruined city.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Jellal had run and jumped as fast as he could before finally reach the edge of the ruined moving city. Now he had taken to carefully searching the buildings to find the antidote. He had to be careful as the buildings nearer the edge were more worn than those closer to the centre and a single mistake could cause one of them to collapse and potentially destroy the antidote.

"Finally." Jellal sighed as he opened a door and found a vial of light purple liquid sitting on a pedestal. "I've got it, now I just have to get back and-"

A loud crash caused Jellal to quickly run outside just as the building he was in collapsed, unable to withstand the shock of the nearby crash.

"That was close, the antidote is still intact," Jellal said with a sigh as he realised his prize was undamaged. "But what on earth was that?"

The smoke and dirt kicked up by the impact cleared away and upon seeing the figure revealed old instincts kicked in causing him to bow.

"My King, you're here." Jellal greeted Erza who looked at him.

"Jellal, don't bow I'm not a King anymore," Erza stated as she looked around, her invisible sword at the ready.

"No matter what happened or will happen, you will always be my king," Jellal vowed as he stopped bowing.

"Why did you help the Seis find Nirvana?" Erza demanded with a disappointed tone that stung Jellal.

"They had a hostage, she's a Squire of the Kingdom who volunteered to help escort me to prison." Jellal explained unapologetically "They used a magic poison on her, I'd never get her to proper treatment in time."

"And you still won't!" A voice yelled causing Jellal and Erza to move as a reddish cloud impacted the ground where they had been standing.

Standing atop Cubellios who now had wings and was flying, was Cobra whose right arm was now claw-like and covered in purple scales.

"He's a dragon slayer." Jellal explained to Erza "A second generation Poison Dragon Slayer to be precise."

"Second generation, like Laxus?"

"You see 'your highness' I had a dragon lacrima implanted into my body making me far more powerful than that first generation idiot with the flames," Cobra told her with a smug smirk. "Oh, by the way, I thought I'd save you a trip, Sir Lancelot." Cobra pointed down just behind him.

Jellal looked in the direction he was pointing and saw Cosmos lying against a building. Before realising what Cobra had just said.

"I'll fight him-"

"No, you won't" Cobra interrupted. "You take a hike, I'm only interested your Ex-Knight, King Arthur, if you try to help well I might lose control and the poison will flood her brain all at once."

"How do you who we are?" Jellal asked.

"Our pals in Grimoire Heart were all too happy to supply information on all the reincarnates in the Fairy Tail guild." Cobra replied, "Now buzz off your majesty, Lancelot and I need to have a little talk."

"Go, this won't take long." Jellal stated, "Brain is at the top of that tower, he can't use any other magic while piloting Nirvana, so take him out and this will be over."

"Alright, I'll see you soon," Erza said before jumping onto a rooftop and heading for the central tower.

"You have a good relationship with her, considering you betrayed her and slaughtered her knights just to get to her wife." Cobra said tauntingly.

Jellal growled but kept his temper under control, summoning Arondight and readying for battle, he placed the antidote away for safe keeping.

"Don't expect this to go like last time, I have an ace up my sleeve now." Cobra grinned cockily.

"Ace or not, if you know as much about me as you think you do then you know that Arondight has special powers against dragons so second generation or no this sword is going to hurt you far more than it normally would."

"Just try it, Poison Dragon Blade!" Cobra formed a sword out of the poison he wielded and leapt at Jellal clashing with him.

"Big mistake Erik, this fight won't last long if you aren't as good with a blade as are you are at running your mouth."

They separated backed off staring down each other.

"Don't think I'll fall for that whistling trick twice."

"You don't have much of a choice."

"We'll see about that!" Cobra growled as he clenched his fists and began trembling.

Jellal was to guard as he felt Cobra's magic energy rising and then…it spiked and began to change. He felt a familiar magic energy mix with Cobra's own which caused it wildly fluctuate, Erik's veins and arteries became visible with a blue light flowing through them, up his arm and across his face.

When the transformation was complete Jellal quickly went on the defensive as Cobra resumed his attack, but now he was faster, and his attacks were much stronger.

'He's as fast and strong as a reincarnate' Jellal thought as he stayed on the defensive blocking attack after attack 'That magic energy felt like Ultear's but what exactly did she do to Erik?'

"Like it?" Erik asked confidently "It's a gift from our pals at Grimoire Heart, you see the magic energy of you reincarnates is really potent when given to a wizard, it amplifies our power hundreds of times, I can easily match you now! Hell, I bet I could take on the Whole Damn WORLD!"

As the fight intensified nearby Cosmos moved her arm and place her hand into some moss nearby. Unseen to Jellal and Cobra the arm Cosmos used, had veins visible with red magic energy flowing through them. The moss glowed in response to the magic power she put into it and elsewhere on Nirvana a larger section of moss began to react.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

When Jura landed on Nirvana separated from the others he expected to run into one of the Oracion Seis but not this quickly. Now before him was Hoteye, but something was strange, he hadn't attacked yet nor did his stance seem to be an aggressive one.

"Jura Neekis, please we must hurry if we are to stop Nirvana," Hoteye said to him urgently.

"Stop it, but this is what you wanted isn't it?" Jura inquired suspiciously ready for a sneak attack.

"Originally yes, I was going along with Brain's plans, I figured that with Nirvana we could the threat of it to extort heaps of money from countries and cities," Hoteye explained sadly.

"What could you possibly want all that money for?" Jura asked, "You've killed entire armies for it, so explain yourself."

"When I was very young I was caught in a slave raid and taken to the Tower of Heaven, away from the farm where we lived. I knew that even when I left the Tower I knew that I would need vast amounts of money in order to find him. However, Nirvana has since opened my eyes."

"Nirvana opened your eyes?"

"Yes, you may have noticed a large pillar with smaller pillars of black light around it?" Hoteye reminded him "That was Nirvana's first stage and it wildly releases its magic flipping the personalities of those who are teetering on the edge between darkness and light to the opposite of how they normally act. Which is what happened to me, I came to realise that the world Brain intends to create with Nirvana is not the one I wish for my brother to live in. So I will stop Brain and Nirvana, even if it means I may never see my brother again."

"I see, very well, then I accept your aid." Jura said after a few moments of thought "But I will be keeping a close eye on you."

"I understand." Hoteye nodded in agreement before pointing to a large tower that was visible from anywhere in the ruined city. "We must go to the royal throne up there that is where-AGH!"

Hoteye was cut off as a huge plant vine suddenly appeared and wrapped itself firmly around his throat and lifted him into the air. Hoteye's cries became louder as more vines appeared just a bit smaller and wrapped themselves around his limbs.

"I'll help you!" Jura ran towards Hoteye but paused briefly as the largest vine began glowing blue, it looked water was within it flowing away from its captive. Hoteye tried to struggle but the vines held tightly like they were made of steel.

"Is it draining his magic power?" Jura wondered before getting ready to aid his ally.

"No don't!" Hoteye suddenly yelled painfully "Don't waste your time on me, Its sucking away the special magic power that was given to me as an ace in the hole….Reincarnates magic power, when infused to a wizard, can amplify their abilities many times over, not just magic power, but speed and strength just to name a few…..All of the Oracion Seis have marks which contain this power and mine is being drained away."

"If I leave, you could be drained to death by whoever is doing this!" Jura objected.

"And if you delay many more people will suffer." Hoteye countered "Brain can't use any other magic while piloting Nirvana….if you strike quickly and strongly you can knock him out before he even has a chance to release his power…..listen, I am more than ready….to pay for my sins. Just don't let Brain win!"

"I will come back for you, I swear it," Jura vowed, before running off to the Throne to confront Brain.

As he watched Jura go, Hoteye felt himself growing weaker and weaker, darkness began encroaching upon his vision.

'My brother, my prayer was to look upon your face, just one more….time' Hoteye thought before he finally lost consciousness.

Eventually, the larger vine went dim before they all allowed their captive to fall to the ground. When this happened the vines, all began to wither away and die, far faster than was natural, within seconds there was no evidence they had been there at all, save for Hoteye who was now lying face down upon the ground unmoving.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After finally landing on Nirvana, Shirou had receded, returning control of Wendy's body back to her, to give her a rest. Thankfully Carla had been able to land nearby and fly to them, they were close to the edge of Nirvana far away from the others.

"Carla do you know where the others are?" Wendy asked.

"We were scattered everywhere, I can sense a few fights going on already," Carla replied

"Hey, it's that brat!" Wendy and Carla turned around to see Naked Mummy and few other dark wizards had found them. Including their leaders Zato and Gato.

"Speaking of which," Carla mumbled.

"This is the one who beat you beat idiots up?" Zato asked with a sigh.

"Yeah, boss she's the one!" A wizard who Wendy and Shirou recognised as the leader of the robbery at the Love and Lucky Merchant guild which they stopped.

"Normally I'd say nothing personal, but since you humiliated our guild and got us in trouble with Oracion Seis, it really is," Zato stated as the other wizards prepared their magic cracked their knuckles. "Beating you up will not only restore our reputation but also get the Seis to forgive us."

"Yeah, and we'll get the big reward they're offering too." Gato said before repeating himself "And we'll get the big reward they're offering too."

"Reward?" Wendy repeated the word curiously.

"Yeah, the Seis are offering a big reward to whoever beats up one of you morons and brings you to 'em," Zato explained with a smirk. "Too bad that chump Erigor encountered that pink haired kid and the guy with no clothes, a kid like you will be easy pickings, that reward is as good as ours."

"It won't be as easy as you think," Wendy told them dropping into a stance.

"What are you waiting for an invitation? GET HER!" Zato commanded.

At least fifteen wizards responded and all leapt at Wendy, Carla wasn't worried, however, barely smirking as the child easily sent the first wave flying away. They were quickly followed up by another wave however, Carla saw the tactic. The Leaders were using their guildmates as throwaways to wear Wendy down then beat her themselves.

As Carla watched the 'fight' something caught her eye causing her to turn around. It was a mountain that they were passing. Normally seeing a mountain wasn't that big a deal, but this one had a unique shape that she remembered. So the cat wandered closer to the edge and quickly realised by the landscape which direction they were headed in.

"Wendy!" Carla yelled whipping around to look at the girl whom she surprised with her shout.

"Carla, what is it?" Wendy asked wondering why her friend would shout like that, as she punched away and couple more wizards.

"Hurry up and finish this quickly!" Carla commanded her desperately. "Nirvana is headed for Cait Shelter, If we don't stop it, our guild will be destroyed!"

Recognising the urgency of the situation, Wendy suddenly took in a deep breath, aiming to end the fight quickly. Her cheeks puffed up resembling those of chipmunk.

"Sky Dragons ROAR!" She unleashed the vortex of air from her mouth.

Zato and Gato could only scream as they and their guild were annihilated when the attack impacted knocking them all out.

"We have to hurry!" Carla urged her.

"Right," Wendy replied as both began running deeper into Nirvana, hoping to find some way of stopping it.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

When he landed on Nirvana the first thing Lahar did was conceal himself. As the Heroic Spirit who took up the mantle of Robin Hood, his speciality lay in sticking to the shadows. Creating Ambushes, traps, poisoning meals, amongst other cowardly methods, were all acceptable to defeat the enemy.

The folks of this place were pretty happy under their king, so there was no tyrannical regime to topple. No, their peaceful lives were being disrupted by evil assholes like the Oracion Seis. Helping the authorities wasn't his usual thing, but it was fine. The Magic Council were idiots at worst, but certainly not evil. If they did start abusing their authority, however, they could expect an arrow in the back. Rune Knight or No.

Lahar suddenly leapt to the side, just as a bolt of magic energy zoomed by and impacted, destroying the building behind him and reducing it to rubble.

"Damn, I spent too much time spacing out." Lahar grumbled as he began running, dodging and weaving between buildings as more shots rained down, quickly destroying his cover forcing him to stay on the move.

It didn't take too long for him to figure out where the shots were coming from. So with his trusty Yew bow in hand, he fired returned fire. Only to hear a metallic ping, a quick glance revealed that it was Caelum the Celestial Spirit of the Chisel in cannon form firing at him from the distance.

'So where is-' Lahar's thoughts were cut off as another beam, coming from in front of him this time made him quickly jump back, he had no time to stop however as he was forced to keep moving in order to dodge Caelum's shot from its vantage point as well.

In front of him was Angel, her left arm extended towards him with a hole in the centre of the palm, clearly a magic energy weapon of some sort. He also noted her appearance different, her veins and arteries were visible and had a blue energy running throughout them, all across her body. Her magic energy signature was unstable and fluctuating, something was very wrong here.

"Sorano Agria" Lahar spoke Angel's true name causing her to stop giggling and flinch before the smirk quickly returned. "Your life was ruined by Zeref worshippers, they murdered your parents and enslaved you to build the Tower of Heaven. Yet when you are freed, you work with people who have the exact same agenda, it doesn't make sense."

"The Oracion Seis has nothing to do with Zeref!" Angel yelled angrily, firing on the Rune Knight once again.

Caelum also took this as its signal and resumed firing on Lahar. Know that he knew the Celestial Spirit was there Lahar had little difficulty dodging its shots, but Angels were more difficult, she was much more accurate, her shots far faster and deadlier than any normal wizard should be alone.

"But your partners in the Balam Alliance are," Lahar argued firing back at Angel, meeting her shots with his own, causing them to detonate in mid-air. "Grimoire heart were the ones who controlled Jellal at the Tower of Heaven, they kept you enslaved there, and even now they are working to try and bring Zeref back!"

"Shut up, SHUT UP, JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!" Angel screamed furiously.

Lahar kept his guard up, Angel had stopped firing but that didn't last long. In front of her was a large energy orb larger than Angel and dwarfing even some of the houses nearby. A small grin crossed Lahar's lips.

'She's traded speed for destructive power, which is exactly what I needed her to do.' Lahar braced himself and prepared to put his plan into action. Unflinching even as Angel fired the orb at him.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Gray was getting tired, he and Natsu had landed together along with Happy, but were surrounded by tonnes of Dark Wizards, they were all pretty weak, but they had numbers and he was starting to get tired.

"You getting….tired popsicle?" Natsu panted, hovering in the air via Happy to avoid the motion sickness which came with being aboard Nirvana.

"Not….on your life…ya fiery freak," Gray replied freezing another Wizard, as Natsu punched away someone else.

"Man, they just keep getting back up…..haven't they got the…..message by now?" Natsu complained as he punched away yet another attacker.

Then, everything went silent.

"Looks like you spoke….too soon," Gray stated catching his breath. "Guess that's all of them."

He surveyed the battle zone, there had to be at least fifty of these morons that they had knocked unconscious. However, the fight had been strange, as some of them had gotten back up and kept coming. But now finally it seemed they were all down for the count.

"That you did flies." Gray and Natsu looked up to see Erigor floating in the air grinning down at them.

"Erigor," Gray growled at the enemy he recognised from Oshibana.

"Who?"

"He's the guy you beat up on the train tracks Natsu." Happy reminded the dense Dragon Slayer.

"Oh yeah, the guy who ran away like a coward the first chance he got," Natsu said tapping his hand with his fist. "You want me to kick your ass again?"

"It won't be as easy this time, I'm different than I was before." Erigor chuckled

"He looks weird, doesn't he?" Happy commented.

Gray was inclined to agree, Erigors, veins and arteries were visible all across his body and through them flowed a light blue energy.

"Grimoire Heart's reincarnate gave me power boost, one that's more than enough to crush the two of you." Erigor cackled

"he looks really gross." Happy commented suddenly.

"I know right, I swear they're moving all over him," Natsu whispered not so quietly to Happy.

"THEY ARE NOT MOVING!" Erigor bellowed summoning his wind magic for combat. "I WILL TEAR YOU APART LIZARD BOY!"

"Oh yeah, bring in on ya windbag!" Natsu taunted challengingly as he ignited a fist

Gray let out a sigh and prepared his ice-make magic as Erigor and Natsu collided.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

A pair of fingers were on Lucy's forehead, she sat on her Vimana, ignoring the battle that the others were taking part in. She had more important things to worry about than some moving pile of rubble.

' _My Lady, we've found an item that matches what you were looking for._ ' Kageyama reported to her through telepathy.

' _Down to the detail, I hope?_ ' Lucy asked with a tone that indicated no room for failure.

' _Yes Ma'am, according to the research it matches what you wanted, a Divine Construct._ '

' _Details, Kageyama_ '

' _It's a sword, called The Second Hand of Time_ ' Kageyama began his explanation clearly reading the details of a written report. ' _It's a blade forged by some old Blacksmith Deity, and wielded by the God of Time Chronos, who was worshipped by the people of Mildian._ '

' _Mildian, the ruined city?_ '

' _Yes but there's problem._ '

' _Explain_ '

' _The fact that the ruins are located in Alvarez is the least of it._ ' Kageyama continued ' _The cavern where the sword is enshrined is located deep beneath the ruins, and its heavily magically protected, there are all sorts of traps and protections, most of them lethal. Our 'guide' says she could take them down but alone it could take a long time, years perhaps._ '

' _I don't have that much patience._ '

'S _he can speed up the process but, the traps and protections are old and powerful, she requires the aid of someone with a magic resistance of the B-Rank at the least in order to remove them in a timely manner._ '

…

' _How convenient, I'll be acquiring the services of a reincarnate with just such a skill._ ' Lucy chuckled her mood becoming better ' _Ready the expedition, and inform her that I'll have such a person in about a month or two_ '

' _I'll begin immediately_ '

' _Kageyama_.' Lucy could feel her subordinate freeze up at her saying his name ' _That Divine Construct is central to my plans, inform the expedition that if it falls into the hands of anyone but me, then their suffering will know no end, am I clear?_ '

' _Crystal Milady_ ' Kageyama replied nervously before closing the channel.

Now alone with her thoughts, Lucy suddenly heard a loud crash and looked up in annoyance to see a city walking in her direction six large stone legs.

"Hmph, can't those fools even destroy one walking pile of rubble without me to hold their hand?" She grumbled before looking down to her left a short distance away at the Cait Shelter Guildhall. "It figure's they'd get smart and try to target the last of the Nirvits. Hmmm….No I'll wait a bit longer, in the mean time let's see them resist this."

Lucy breathed in and then out, before flaring her magical power like a great golden beacon. There was no way anyone with any sense would be able to miss it.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Makarov Dreyar sighed to himself. He was currently in his office trying to catch up the paperwork the council kept sending him. He had the impression that some of it was sent out of pure spite.

It had been about a week since the Fantasia Parade and a week since he'd expelled Laxus. Having to do that to his grandson, and his closest blood relative (Ivan didn't count, not anymore) had deeply wounded his heart. It caused him to remember his grandson's words from years ago when he'd expelled Ivan, his own son.

" _Ok so he's made a few stupid mistakes but, he's still your own flesh and blood, he's still your son!_ "

To say he had absolutely no regrets would be a lie. He wished, there was some way he could bring his relatives back together into Fairy Tail, but Ivan had gone down a path of no return and had done so with no regrets at all and Laxus had nearly killed his guildmates in a bid to become the Master.

Upholding the Fairy Tail way was difficult, and he had to make many sacrifices to keep Fairy Tail together, but in the end, he had made them. No matter how much it hurt to do so….

'AAAGHHH!" A scream from the guild hall snapped him back to reality. Makarov quickly ran into the main hall to see what the commotion was about only to be met with a disturbingly familiar sight.

Everyone who had been enjoying themselves only moments before were now stone statues. At first, he thought Evergreen was up to her old tricks again, but he quickly saw that she too was solid stone.

"Master Makarov Dreyar, do you like what I've done with the place?" A sultry voice from the stage asked.

Moving carefully through the rows of statues he spotted the culprit, wearing a tattered black cloak which failed to conceal her long purple hair. She pulled down her hood, revealing the same woman who had brutalised Gajeel and dumped him in the middle of the parade.

Recalling what Erza had told him of the woman he quickly averted his eyes to avoid meeting her gaze.

"Flare Corona" Makarov recalled the woman's name easily. "What does Ivan want now?"

"Oh don't be like that, I think the place is much better now that it's nice and quiet," Flare smirked taking a seat on the edge of the stage. "No one to interrupt us. I thought it was almost too good to be true when you sent your strongest protectors away on a mission, you practically invited me to come and pay a visit."

"Why are you here?!" Makarov demanded more forcefully this time.

"Ah very well, Master Ivan wishes for me to acquire the Lumen Histoire, so if you'd be so kind as to show it to me I'll take it and be on my way, I'll even turn all your 'children' back to normal on my way out."

"How does Ivan know about-" Makarov was interrupted as Flare suddenly lashed out with her leg and smashed one of the statues, destroying the upper half and leaving only the waist down, but instead of dust and rubble, Makarov was drenched with a great deal of fresh blood, causing him to freeze up.

"That was just one of those townsfolk who like to hang out here." Flare said inspecting her nails "The next one will actually be one of your children, so I suggest that you think very carefully about your answer and whether keeping Lumen Histoire a secret is worth their lives."


	28. Beyond Darkness and Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental, and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Loath as he was to admit it, Jellal was now having trouble with Erik who was standing on Cubellios back who had sprouted wings. With this boost he'd gotten his speed and strength had risen to the point where Jellal now found the fight had become serious, he was being challenged. It both excited and worried him, excited because there weren't many things in this new world that could challenge reincarnates and being a knight, he enjoyed fighting worthy opponents, but he was worried because there was a very real chance that Erik might die.

Unleashing his Noble Phantasm, Arondight's power could secure victory but it would also kill Eric, something he didn't want. He was one of Ultear's victims by proxy, all of the Seis were, excluding Brain of course. He had no doubt she was using them as pawns even now and when they no longer had use they'd be discarded.

He and Eric locked swords, only to break the lock and try to attack each while fending off blows from the other.

'This boost Eric had received may have given the physical abilities to match a reincarnate, but there's one thing it can't give you.'

"Oh, and what would that be?!" Eric asked loudly having heard him thinking as he aggressively sought a way through Jellals guard.

"Skill." Jellal blocked a blow and quickly countered, nicking Erik's chest as he backpedalled to avoid the worst of the attack.

"Who needs skill when I have this kind of power? **Poison Dragon: Scales!** " Erik slashed his sword and sending a lot of large scale shaped poisonous masses at the other man each as tall as two people.

Jellal responded not by dodging but instead meeting the projectiles head on, he had to exert force but the scales did give way and shattered as he attacked them. However, he was caught off guard as multiple scales suddenly rushed him and crashed into him kicking up smoke.

Cobra laughed at this before heard something. A thought from Jellal.

'Dodge'

Cobra was surprised by a metal fist which impacted his face from behind. The force was such that he flew off Cubellios and crashed into several buildings below before coming to a stop. He did get a chance to even stand as Jellal crashed down upon him sending them both below Nirvana's surface. They fell through two more floors before finally crash landing in a large empty chamber with only support pillars in the wide-open space. Jellal leapt off Erik when they landed.

"Another weakness of your Listening ability, Thoughts don't produce sound waves, so if you lose sight of me you won't be able to tell where I am unless I'm thinking about it."

"Impossible, you were planning a sneak attack I should have still heard it!" Erik yelled as he shakily stood up, leaning on Cubellios who had flown down from the hole they made in the ceilings above. "So how?!"

"Instinct," Jellal replied simply.

"Instinct, what the hell are you talking about?!"

"Erik, I'm the reincarnation of Sir Lancelot, a battle-hardened knight who went on more quests, fought more battles and wars than you could ever hope too. Allowing instinct to guide me, in other words, to fight without thinking about what I'm going to do next is child's play."

"If you could do something like that, then why not use it earlier?"

"Because believe or not Erik I'm trying not to kill you, and these instincts are made to kill. Even if you fought Erza, the result would be the same, I imagine her instincts are even greater than mine."

"Screw you! Let's See your instincts help you outta this!" Cobra began gathering poison in his hands only to abruptly freeze up and the magic power to disperse in his hands.

Then, the blue light flowing through Cobra vanished, his veins and arteries submerging beneath his skin once more.

"He's back to normal, but why?" Jellal asked before spotting something tied around Erik's neck, it was a long plant vine, and now had red light flowing through it coming from Erik, "The vine sucked all of his magic energy away but where did it come from?"

'All I ever wanted, my only prayer was to someday hear the voice of my one true friend.'

Eventually, the vine released Cobra allowing him to drop the ground. Cubellios hovered over him, nuzzling against his face.

"I'll be back for you Erik, but first I need to get back to Cosmos," Jellal stated before heading for the surface.

He stopped and froze upon the level just below the surface, his whole body suddenly feeling as if he was being dipped in ice, it was unmistakable.

"A magic energy burst and its massive" Jellal stated it was from a few miles ahead of Nirvana and was most definitely not from any of the Seis.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Grey and Natsu both cried out in pain as they impacted a wall, crashing through it and landing in a long abandoned house. Erigor covered in his storm mail hovered just outside of the hole.

"What's the matter flies? You're not so tough now are you?" Erigor taunted as he moved inside the building and closer to the pair.

"You're only saying that because you're hiding behind that storm mail like a coward," Gray growled as he sat up.

Natsu was sadly of no help, as he had remembered that he was on Nirvana which was moving, thus causing his motion sickness to kick in. As such he lay on the ground in a pathetic heap. Happy was unable to aid Natsu as Erigor had quickly taken the flying cat out, having seen him help Natsu fly before.

"Too bad he can't help you, not that it'd make a difference."

"I don't need that fiery freak to take you on," Gray growled preparing his ice-make magic for another attack.

"You're gonna-" Erigor stopped as a sound broke in, one Gray was familiar with, it was the same sucking sound that Natsu made when eating fire, but instead, Erigor's storm mail was disappearing. It didn't take long for it to vanish completely leaving Erigor exposed. "Wha-my Storm Mail!"

A person appeared standing over Natsu, their hands over either side of his head.

"Wendy!" Gray cried out the Sky Dragon Slayer's name.

"Quick freeze him I'll help Natsu," Wendy commanded. "Troia."

Gray was quick to comply, trapping Erigor in a pillar of ice. Meanwhile, energy flowed from Wendy's hands and into Natsu who suddenly stood up.

"Hey I feel way better, I don't feel like I'm riding on anything anymore!" Natsu cried joyfully.

"Quit screwing around and help me finish this guy already!" Gray yelled irritably, seeing that his pillar had already begun cracking with Erigors rising magical power.

"I've got a score to settle with him anyway," Natsu growled punching his fists together igniting them. "This is for Happy, **FIRE DRAGONS IRON FIST!** "

Natsu leapt at Erigor his punch shattering the ice he was trapping and sending him crashing through the roof and fly into the sky. He was suddenly stopped, however, as a vine rose from the adjacent building and caught him by the ankle, before viciously slamming him into the ground.

"Well, I guess that's it." Gray deadpanned as he and the others walked out of the building.

Natsu rushed over to check on Happy while Carla looked closer at the Vine. Which upon closer inspection had bright red flowing into it, while the blue magic energy was flowing out of Erigor.

"This vine, it's draining the magic power out of him," Carla said narrowing her eyes at the strange plant.

"Should we stop it?" Gray asked hesitantly.

"No, just leave him, I don't think its malicious or it would have gone after all of us." Carla replied "Anyway, we need to stop Nirvana now-" The cat paused as everyone shivered, a sensing a powerful burst of magic power from up far up ahead away from Nirvana.

"That magic power…."

"That's Lucy's magic energy, do think needs help?" Natsu asked looking in the direction the burst came from.

"This is Lucy you're talking about" Gray replied shaking his head "She probably just wants attention."

"Yeah you're right, let's go." With that everyone began running towards the royal throne intent on stopping Nirvana.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Lahar's plan had worked beautifully, Angel's shots had slowed down but had become larger and more destructive because of his taunting, this gave Lahar his advantage back. Speed. It also helped that she couldn't see him thanks to invoking his Noble Phantasm 'No Face May King' which for all intents and purposes made him completely invisible.

First, he needed to take out Caelum, the celestial spirit of the chisel which was currently situated on a tower and was taking pot shots whenever it saw him. Unlike Angel whose shots were wild and destructive, Caelum's shots were focused and more likely to be lethal, it took its time and took a shot whenever it spotted him, as such he needed to take it out with a single. Angel herself was also on another building rooftop, a bit higher than her Celestial Spirit.

However, attacking either Angel or Caelum both had the same problem. Attacking on would alert the other as to his location and seeing as he trying to avoid killing the Seis he would need to be careful.

' _I need to defeat them both at the same time, Caelum won't be much of a problem a single strong blow will send it back to the Spirit World._ ' Lahar thought to begin his plan of attack ' _However, Angel, I need to arrest her, not kill her which means I can't invoke the Yew Bow's true power. I've upped the poison on the arrow I attacked her with, the level I used on Racer will be insufficient with that magic energy no doubt making her more resilient.' Lahar let out a sigh 'Being a lawman is such a pain, things were much more simple when I was an outlaw, find bad guy kill bad guy problem solved. Welp here's goes nothing._ '

Readying his crossbow, Lahar plucked a small lacrima from out of his pocket. He quickly overloaded it with magic energy and tossed it as far as he could. Predictably, it exploded letting out a large flash of light along with a bang. It got their attention and so he fired to arrows in quick succession.

Angel was not having a good day, anger clouded her mind from that irritating Rune Knight's talking. She was not working for Zeref and she'd prove it by blowing him into little bits. She'd fired anywhere Caelum had shot creating large craters and demolishing whole buildings. She saw a flash of light and a loud bang, she quickly fired at the spot along with Caelum, only to hear something like the shattering of glass.

She looked to see Caelum returning to the Celestial Spirit world, only to feel a sharp pain. Looking down Angel saw an arrow embedded in her side.

"Bastard, as if I'll go down so easily!" Angel screamed madly, she prepared her arm cannon, and began gathering magical energy the orb was quickly as big as a basketball, then a horse and then a small car. However before she could fire something wrapped around her throat and she began to feel weak, the orb suddenly dissipated and then Angel found herself screaming as she was dragged down through the floor, and the subsequent ones below it.

Lahar meanwhile was pleasantly surprised when Angel vanished and began being dragged down through the building she had been standing on. He jogged over to it, wincing as she crashed to the ground floor. He entered the building to find Angel on the ground, the air having been knocked out of her.

"Vines?" Lahar stated upon seeing vines wrapped around Angel's neck, arms, legs and waist, all glowing red as the blue light in angel began to dim "They're draining the magic energy from her, well this is convenient. The poison should put you to sleep a bit quicker now. I'll come back for you later. I need to get to the throne and stop Nirvana."

As Lahar walked away Angel gasped reaching her hand upwards towards the sky visible through the holes in the ceiling above her.

'My prayer... to fade into the sky... like an angel…'

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Jellal couldn't say he wasn't disappointed. He'd gotten the cure to Cosmos which began to work immediately, colour returning to the Squire's face. However she hadn't thanked him, instead demanded that he leave her alone, when she lashed out at him with her plant magic he reluctantly left her and began making his way to the throne in order to stop Brain and Nirvana.

As he ran down his warning instinct blared and he screeched to a halt just as the wall to his left exploded as something flew through it and stopped hitting the wall to his right. In the crater made in the right wall was Macbeth completely out cold. There was a flash of light from within the hole and out of it stepped Erza in her Heart Kreuz armour.

"Jellal." She greeted him.

"My king," Jellal replied coolly before going on guard as Erza suddenly went into a stance her invisible sword in hand.

The disgraced knight looked to see the same vines from earlier wrapping around Macbeth and just like with Erik began draining the magic energy from him.

"Easy, those vines appear to take away that strange magic energy from them, the same happened during my fight with Erik earlier."

"I see." Erza was still on guard but lowered her sword, keeping an eye on the vines as they began making their way to the throne.

"So how did you get around his reflector magic?"

"Well, when I figured out he couldn't use it to directly affect my body, I simply removed any clothing and punched him, it was actually rather sad, even Natsu lasts longer than that," Erza said with disappointment.

' _Hey guys, can you hear me?_ ' A familiar voice echoed through a telepathic link.

"Hibiki is that you?" Erza asked.

' _I'm glad you're ok, we managed to defeat all the thugs down here a while ago and have been trying to keep up with Nirvana._ ' Hibiki informed her.

' _Sherry's doll magic has helped us in that regard._ ' Lyon commented ' _Nirvana's sheer size allows it cross a vast distance quite fast, despite its seemingly slow speed._ '

' _I contacted Jura, he was with Hoteye who was about change sides but he was attacked and defeated, he's fighting Brain right now at the Royal Throne_ ' Hibiki informed them.

' _I've defeated Angel, it was strange some vines appeared and landed the finishing blow for me and began draining the magic energy out of her._ ' Lahar reported in an unusually casual tone.

"The same happened when I fought Cobra, some vines appeared and immobilised him, sucking out that magic energy from him," Jellal reported.

' _Hey is that Jellal?_ ' Gray cut in.

"Yes it is, I only helped the Seis get Nirvana because they were holding a squire who was lent to the Rune Knights, hostage." Jellal explained, "I got the antidote to her in time so she's out of danger."

' _Then I assume you know how to stop Nirvana?_ ' Lahar asked.

' _We are almost at Cait Shelter._ ' Carla cried fearfully.

"Yes, I don't have the sealing method but Nirvana can be forced to shut down."

' _Can't we just destroy it?_ ' Gray interrupted impatiently.

' _Yeah I'm with the ice princess, we do enough damage and we can wreck this thing easy._ ' Natsu agreed.

' _What did you say?!_ '

' _You heard me frosty!_ '

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" Erza yelled angrily stopping the argument dead.

' _Yes, Ma'am._ ' Both wizards suddenly changed their tune quickly not wanting to invoke Erza's wrath.

"I'm afraid that won't work, Nirvana is quite literally a mobile city." Jellal continued his explanation. "Anti-Fortress noble Phantasms like Excalibur will be insufficient, as Nirvana has a powerful self-repair ability and fix even major damage within seconds. My Arondight is Anti-Army at best, In order to force Nirvana to shut we have to destroy the six lacrima which are positioned at the top of each of its legs, which power it by sucking magic energy from the earth. An Anti-City Noble Phantasm is required to annihilate Nirvana completely."

"And the one person who definitely has one is off sulking still." Erza sighed massaging her temples "Hibiki can you get through to Lucy?"

' _I've tried but she's blocked me completely._ '

Erza opened her mouth to comment but stopped a boom came the top of the royal throne sending tremors throughout the city.

' _What the hell was that?_ ' Gray inquired surprised.

' _Apologies that was me_ ' Jura's voice declared joining the telepathic conversation ' _I have just defeated Brain. But it was odd he didn't use-_ '

Jura suddenly cut out as a large explosion came from the top of throne joined an eerie green light.

' _Jura! Jura what's wrong?!_ ' Lyon yelled

' _I've lost the connection_ ' Hibiki stated with panic

' _He's still alive, for now._ ' Another voice suddenly cut into the telepathic link, it was a sinister voice full of malice. ' _He will watch as I destroy his guild as well._ '

"Who are you?" Erza demanded.

' _Insolent fool, you should speak to the Great One with more respect!_ ' A different voice cut in, with a grovelling to it.

' _Silence Klodoa, I am Zero and I must say you scum have done an admirable job of taking apart my guild, but as its master, I obligated to have my revenge, not mention you sky dragon slayer, you took my eye, so I'll destroy your entire guild. We are finally at our destination._ '

There was a shudder as Nirvana came to a sudden halt. As it did a large swirl of dark looking magical energy began gathering around the front of Nirvana. Looking out Erza and Jellal both noticed the sun had was beginning to disappear over the horizon.

' _What's that?_ ' Natsu asked no doubt everyone could see it from where they were.

"That's Nirvana's weapon he's going to fire it!" Jellal yelled, "When that happens Cait Shelter's members will go to the dark side and start ripping each other apart."

' _Our guild_ ' Carla whispered with shock.

' _Don't be absurd, while I would very much enjoy seeing the Nirvits destroy themselves I have a much worthier target in mind._ ' Zero laughed ' _Look closely at where we're aiming._ '

Erza squinted, looking past the swirling magic power which was growing bigger and bigger, and spotted something, a golden craft floating in the sky level with Nirvana. The Vimana.

"Lucy?!" Erza said her eyes widening, as she was just about able to see the golden clad girl sitting atop the Vimana with her eyes shut and her head resting on one hand, seemingly unconcerned with the situation.

"Nirvana's magic power is too powerful to be given a rank. Even her armour won't be able to protect her from it." Jellal stated.

' _Correct!_ ' The Guildmaster cackled ' _You may have defeated the rest of my guild but with her, by my side, I'll be able to destroy the entire world! NOW DESTROY JUSTICE AND DECENCY MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!_ '

Nirvana fired, unleashing the gathered magic energy in the form of a powerful black beam from the cannon. Lucy finally opened her eyes with an annoyed expression on her face. She saw the beam coming for her and simply clicked her tongue with irritation as the beam enveloped her and the Vimana completely.

After the beam dispersed everyone could finally see the Vimana in the same position as before. Nirvana's beam had definitely struck and Lucy had made no move to defend herself from it.

'Does this mean she's on his side now?' Happy asked fearfully.

' _Correct, Even with that armour granting her B ranked magic resistance, Nirvana's magic power is beyond the ranking system which means even she has had her light turned into darkness!_ ' Zero gloated as the Vimana suddenly began ascending higher and higher until it finally settled far above the height of the royal throne. ' _Now with the King of Heroes at my side, none of you can stop me!_ '

It was then it appeared, golden ripples in space that all of them were familiar with. The Gate of Babylon. But it was not just one portal, nor two or even ten, there were hundreds of portals enough to completely cover Nirvana and each had a small blue glow in the centre. The owner looked down at them imperiously from the edge of the Vimana which hovered above the portals, with her arms folded.

' _We can see it from here._ ' Hibiki whispered in horror.

"Hibiki you all need to get away from here!" Erza yelled loudly.

' _Now guilds of light bear witness to it, THE DESTRUCTION TO END ALL!'_ Zero bellowed gleefully.

Then it began to rain, not Noble Phantasms, but beams of blue light, they were about as thick as rope but from the distance, they may as well have been as thin as straw. Then the beams all began to converge and merge together. Become less numerous but growing bigger as they did so. Finally, only a few huge columns were left, Erza and Jellal scarcely had time to think before the beams impacted. Then everything around them began violently shaking, there was a roaring cacophony of different noises before they felt themselves falling.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

'… _.za….nyone….er….me?_ ' A weak voice was trying to communicate through heavy static.

Erza groaned and rubbed her head, everything had finally stopped moving. She found herself and Jellal had landed on the side of a building, like the whole of Nirvana was at a slant.

"Hibiki…..is that you?" Erza finally asked after getting her bearings.

' _Erza, I'm glad you're alright, the blasts interfered with my telepathy, it's only now clearing up._ '

' _We're all alive?_ ' Gray inquired with a groan ' _Well Natsu and Happy are out cold, what about the rest of you?_ '

' _I'm ok, just a few scratches here and there._ ' Wendy reported with a pained groan.

' _I'm fine_.' Lahar said shortly.

' _Great news, if you couldn't already tell, Nirvana has been destroyed._ ' Hibiki told them cheerfully.

"What?!"

"She destroyed it?"

' _Yeah, the things a mess, the main body has split in two and one part is at an angle, while the legs have detached and crumbled to pieces._ ' Hibiki informed them.

' _But why would she do that if she's on his side now?_ ' Gray wondered.

Before anyone could speak however a golden light shone down the sky blinding everyone and let out a sound like gale force winds passing by. The next thing they knew the whole of the allied forces found themselves reunited in a large clearing by a river, with Cait Shelter just across from it. The large ruins of the destroyed nirvana looming across from them. The unconscious member of the Seis and Erigor lay gathered off to the side.

"Jura!" Lyon cried looking at the fallen Wizard Saint who had been reunited with, he was unconscious and had a large burn mark on his front. He ran over to him and began inspecting his wounds with Hibiki.

"He'll make it, but he needs to be medical attention as soon as possible," Hibiki said after examining his wounds for a moment.

"But what went wrong?" A familiar voice asked they all turned to see Zero standing there punching a tree in frustration. "Was Nirvana simply too big of a target for her to resist?"

"AHAHAHAHAHA" a familiar haughty laugh broke in, a golden portal appeared before the group, it easily as large as a person and out it stepped Lucy with a wide grin on her face. "I do so love this world, I don't have to make my own entertainment anymore."

"Impossible, you took a direct hit from Nirvana, so how are you still yourself?!" Zero cried in disbelief and rage.

"Ha, fool I am a king," Lucy answered smugly as if that explained everything.

"Care to elaborate for those us who don't have ego's which dwarf galaxy clusters?" Erza asked dryly.

"A king is an existence which acknowledges it things such as evil, hatred, ugliness and darkness; A true King will permit them. A true King will also bear the burden of the sins for the entire world and I have been bearing that weight on my shoulders now since the beginning of time." Lucy launched into her explanation "As for things petty morality, that is something the masses invented to justify their actions, to give extra value to their lives. If they contributed, enriched the lives of others and thought they made the world a better place then they are good thus their lives had some form of significance. I am above petty morality, I do not align with either good or evil, light or darkness. The only thing which truly matters to a king is their word which is the law by which all should abide. No matter how powerful the magic you use I cannot be swayed by you or anything else."

"No, NO NO NO NOOOO!" Zero yelled in fury his magic powerful flaring in response to his frustration causing the none reincarnates to shield themselves.

Jell, Erza, Lahar and Shirou who had switched with Wendy now pointed their weapons at him.

"Zero it's over you and the Oracion Seis are finished," Jellal stated summoning Arondight.

"Now surrender peacefully," Erza demanded her invisible sword pointed at the man.

"Accept your defeat, you and all your underlings are under arrest." Lahar declared pointing his crossbow at the man.

None of them noticed a dark, wooden staff skull topped with a handle-like formation at the back with has bandage-like wrappings near the top half. Adorned with a headpiece composed of a bluish cloth with yellow markings over it, creating a jagged formation, stones aligned over the top of the cloth, red feather-like objects hanging down beside skull, and lastly a multitude of green leaves also similar to feathers. At the back of the skull are two yellow strings with blue rings attached to the ends. With a turquoise round stone in its mouth. It slithered like a snake into the undergrowth and fled from sight.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Back at Fairy Tail, Master Makarov could see no way out. It was Fairy Tail's greatest secret or his children. The smirking Flare was examining her nails unconcerned. Just as he was about to open his mouth to surrender however Flare suddenly flew from her seat and into the back wall.

"You won't hurt Fairy Tail any further." Makarov gasped as he saw Mirajane in her Satan form, fist outstretched.

"Mira!" he called out in both relief and fear.

Makarov was relieved that she was unharmed but he was also afraid because now Flare was sure to retaliate, he couldn't let her be killed. Fairy Heart was not worth losing his children over.

"Oh, that actually hurt, impressive." Flare congratulated her while nursing the bruise now on her face. "Mirajane Strauss, you know I'm actually glad I missed you, I'd love you as part of my collection but that form is so ugly, tell you what I'll humour you and fight, after all, the look of despair on your face as I crush your pitiful defiant spirit to dust, will look fantastic when I turn you to stone and lock your face forever that way." Flare giggled and shivered in anticipation. "I have a spot near a window where you'll look fantastic. I'll even forgo weapons just hand to hand you and me to make it fair."

Mirajane swallowed shoving down her fear, she knew her strength wasn't enough to beat this monster, but she needed to do something. She needed to buy time, with luck the others would be back soon. She just needed to hang on. So without hesitation, she engaged the grinning gorgon who gladly leapt at her like a beast.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This chapter's ending is rather abrupt, but I can only say that I got distracted and have started getting back to writing hopefully the next chapter will be an improvement, some revelations await as more about an Earthland with reincarnates is revealed, so stay tuned.


	29. The Nirvits Final Sunset

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night, any resemblance to any other Fairy Tail or Fate Stay Night fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Zero stood up, an enraged look on his face, dark magic gathered in his hands.

"Fine, I'll just do this myself, with the boost I can still destroy most of you fools before I'm-GAHHHH!" He let out a strangled noise as a vine stretched out from the dark ruins of Nirvana and wrapped itself around his throat.

Zero made to break it off but his right arm was restrained by another, his left arm followed suit. Then he cried out in pain as the magic energy was sucked out him, giving the vines a reddish glow once more. Eventually, as his body was deprived of both his regular magic energy and the energy given by the boost he fell unconscious before being unceremoniously dropped by the vines which retreated into the shadows of Nirvana.

Cosmos stepped out into the light, a harsh scowl on her face.

"Zero has been subdued, the Oracion Seis have been defeated." She reported to Lahar coldly, in a tone that confused Jellal as it did not fit coming out of the mouth of the squire he'd briefly gotten to know.

"Are you alright?" Lahar asked her similarly confused, she was no longer the scared rookie from before.

"I'm fine." She replied simply "Nirvana affected me and my personality changed, I'm not a cry-baby anymore."

"I thought Nirvana turned people evil, so how come she's not attacking us?" Natsu asked confused.

"Nirvana flips Darkness and Light, it does not necessarily change one's alignment from Good to Evil, that's dependent on the perspective of the person in question." Lucy replied holding out a bunch of papers which Jellal had finished signing "Light can be evil and Darkness can be good."

"Well, it's over now and I can take the Seis into custody, Jellal that means you'll have to come too." Lahar sighed clearly unhappy but knowing his duty.

This earned him many rowdy objections from the wizards, many of whom now saw him as a comrade for his part. Several vines tensed behind Cosmos, ready to fight and subdue him if need be.

"Look, I'm not happy about it either but the law is the law, and I have to take him in," Lahar told them with a long-suffering sigh.

"Actually you don't." Everyone quieted down at this and Lahar looked up at Lucy who looked rather smug, she held out several inches worth of papers at him, which he took and read

"Please tell me this is a joke." He said after reading through it.

"Nope, he signed it and it's all legal, you have no choice."

"You know you'll still have to-" Several large sacks dropped out of the Gate of Babylon each of them as tall as Jura and wide as about three of him, all of them filled to the brim with money. "pay…you really don't like making my life easy do you?"

"Woah, that's a lot of money." Natsu breathed in awe.

"Look at all that cash," Gray gasped.

"Imagine all the fish I could buy with that." Happy drooled.

"What's going on here?" Erza demanded, looking at the King of heroes sharply.

"To put it simply, I basically paid enough money and now instead of spending the rest of his sentence in a cell he'll be working for Lady Kin," Lucy replied casually. "Here," She handed Jellal a folded piece of paper which he opened and read "Those are the details of your first assignment."

"I'm going to Alvarez?" Jellal asked with confusion.

"Indeed, you see with that witch's spell gone your magic resistance is now the B ranked. So your talents are required for a little expedition there, now say your farewells and get going, chop chop."

"So, this is goodbye again, I suppose," Erza said sadly as Jellal walked up to her.

"For now, we'll meet again my king, I swear it as a knight," Jellal vowed before walking back up to Lucy. "So how am I getting there?"

"Go to Hargeon, a ship will be waiting there to take you, when you make port you'll be taken to the expedition site." Lucy gave him the instruction her smirk still never leaving her face.

"Very well, and goodbye to all of you."

"Wait." Wendy ran up to Jellal quickly, "Thank you for what you did for me, I made lots of happy memories in Cait Shelter"

Jellals face scrunched up in confusion before kneeling down to Wendy's level.

"Wendy is it? I'm sorry but I have no idea what you mean, this is the first time we've met." Jellal told her honestly.

"No, but that can't be true I remember meeting you seven years ago." Wendy objected. "You even told me your name was Jellal!"

"I'm sorry but I didn't leave the Tower of Heaven until six years ago when Ultear was sure that things were going according to plan," Jellal stated apologetically.

"It was probably Mystogan," Lucy interjected casually causing everyone to look at her.

"Of course, Mystogan does look just like Jellal and he even has his Noble Phantasms," Erza said with realisation. "But how can that be?"

"Perhaps he is an alternative version of the heroic spirit known as Lancelot." Lucy suggested, "He probably came from another world or timeline."

"Is that possible?"

"Anything is possible when it comes to heroes."

"So its Mystogan I need to find then?" Wendy asked. "He helped me and brought me to Cait Shelter?"

"Most likely."

"Well, farewell we'll meet again someday," Jellal said finally as he began walking off.

"While you were all talking I retrieved the rest of the Oracion Seis," Cosmos stated gesturing to the rest of the dark guild, all unconscious and bound in thorny vines.

"I'll have to request a transport, or several from HQ to carry all this Jewel and them." Lahar sighed "And I'll have to report this to the Council, they won't be happy, what a pain."

"Nirvana's destroyed, so let's go and report to the Master," Carla suggested.

"Yeah, maybe we can relax before heading home." Gray sighed wearily.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The Alliance forces made their way to Cait Shelter. Some of the girls chose to get changed while the guys lounged around in the shade relaxing. Eventually, at the Master of Cait Shelter's request, everyone gathered before the guild. When they did so the gate of Babylon opened up and a light shone from it upon Wendy, next to her appeared a tanned, white-haired version of her. Shirou, who looked surprised, Wendy tried to hug her, only to fall through the body, Lucy informed them that it was just a projection of Shirou so she could join them.

"Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, not to mention Wendy, Carla and Shirou. I commend you on not only defeating the Oraciōn Seis. Lucy Heartfillia, I thank you deeply for saving our village from Nirvana's wrath." Roubaul, the master of the guild said. "Speaking as the representative of our regional guild league, I Roubaul offer my deepest gratitude. Thank you we are in your debt."

"Hmph, I only saved you from Nirvana because I was curious about the Nirvit people, and I wouldn't have gotten any answers if you started killing each other, but now I see how pointless it was." She scoffed folding her arms with an annoyed look on her face.

"Ah, you noticed, Shirou, she is the reincarnation of Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes am I correct?" Roubaul inquired looking at Shirou.

"Yeah, that's her," Shirou replied with an unsteady tone.

"Let start by saying that I'm truly sorry," Roubaul spoke in a serious tone. "I neglected my duty to tell you about the Nirvit people. Please accept my sincere apologies."

"It's alright Master, you don't have to tell us if you don't want too," Wendy spoke up.

"It is important that you listen to what I have to say," Roubaul said. "First, let me clarify something. We aren't descendants of the Nirvit people. Indeed we are the Nirvits, themselves." The Alliance members were utterly shocked at the revelation, none more so than Wendy and Carla, though strangely not Shirou. "Truthfully my body ceased to function four hundred years ago, several years after I created Nirvana."

"You made it!?" Lyon asked.

"Four hundred years ago?" Happy exclaimed.

"Back then there were many wars as a result of the power vacuum left in the wake of the Dragon King Festival," Roubaul explained.

"Dragon King Festival I've never heard of that," Natsu stated confused.

"Me either." Wendy chimed in.

"I'm not surprised, I think Grandeeny most likely kept it a secret from you." Roubaul sighed "The Dragon King Festival, was a great civil war between the dragons. You see four hundred years ago the dragons ruled the world, dominating the Sea, Land and Sky. We, humans, were just food or vermin to them.." Roubaul's serious look seemed to harden even further as he stared with an apologetic look into Wendy's eyes. "Wendy I'm sorry to have to tell you this but nearly all dragons were entirely evil. Grandeeny was the only exception I know of."

"Evil…..but…" Wendy was speechless unsure what to say.

"That's bull crap!" Natsu suddenly yelled furiously, "Where do you get off saying all dragons are evil?"

"We Nirvits weren't always nomads, long before nirvana we lived in a city called Nirvitia."

"I've never heard of such a place," Erza said.

"You wouldn't have, it was in what is now the country of Bosco." Roubaul explained launching into his tale proper "The population was a large five hundred thousand we were peace-loving people thus stayed out of conflicts with both humans and dragons. But that didn't save us, for one-day dragons descended upon our city, feasting upon the people and murder in cold blood those they didn't devour. Luckily, however, I and about five thousand others managed to flee. Five thousand out of five hundred thousand."

Hearing that caused Natsu to back down and look ashamed.

"That's one percent, just one percent of your people escaped?" Lyon gasped with disbelief, clenching his fists.

"Indeed, but the horrors didn't end there. As we fled were pursued by a particularly cruel dragon named Levia, chased us relentlessly, whenever we stayed in one place too long he'd catch us and devour some of us. During one such time when he caught us, he devoured my younger sister before my eyes, her screams haunt me even to this day, shortly after we encountered a dragon who claimed to wish to help us, we were wary of course but also very weary of so much running, so we accepted, and he flew off saying he would bring supplies to us. However, when he came back, he brought Levia with him."

"Realizing that we could never escape, we did the only thing we could, we fought for our lives. But it was futile, the dragons took care only to wound or cripple us, but in the end, we lost. They wanted to taste our fear and despair, but as all hope seemed gone, they were slain, arrows pierced their heads, their necks and their hearts. Our saviour was an archer named Atalanta."

"Wait just a second, Atalanta, Lahar said that she died just a hundred years ago." Gray interrupted.

"Yes, she did and I think I know just she lived so long." Roubaul replied "Back to my story, after saving us, she brought us to a cave, where a dragon named Grandeeny lived. We were wary having been betrayed before but Atalanta vouched for the kindly dragon and she healed our wound and saved us from extinction. We stayed there in that cave, Atalanta even stayed and played with some of the children before she left to continue helping others, eventually, Grandeeny departed telling us to stay in the cave for our own safety, which we did. For next few years we heard rumours of a war between dragons, but by the time we dared venture out it was already over, people called it the Dragon King Festival a civil war which drove the dragons to extinction. Two names stood out as the greatest slayers of dragons, Atalanta and Acnologia, apparently, the pair partnered up to exterminate the dragons and had the highest kill count between them."

"But that can't be I clearly remember being with Grandeeny, and Natsu remembers Igneel." Wendy protested.

"I know and I believe you, perhaps Grandeeny and Igneel went into the hiding to avoid Acnologia and Atalanta's wrath." Roubaul suggested with a shrug "What I do is that at some point Atalanta used a Noble Phantasm called Agrius Metamorphosis which transformed her, it made her more powerful but she could no longer distinguish good dragons from the evil ones and together with Acnologia showed no mercy to any who they found during the Dragon King Festival."

"Wait, how do you know about those parts that if you hid out in that cave the whole time?" Gray asked.

"Simple, Acnologia came here with her body a hundred years ago and told me the whole story."

"So how did she live so long?" Jura inquired.

"From what Acnologia told, after she used Agrius Metamorphosis her lifespan began to shorten, so to compensate she devours the hearts of the dragons she slew." This caused the dragon slayers to turn slightly green and gained shocked looks. "There was always a rumour that eating the heart of a dragon would extend your life but no one was able to confirm it, but I suppose its true because Atalanta lived for three hundred years until finally, she began dying. Her last wish was to have a funeral pyre with the Nirvit people bearing witness and for Acnologia to pass on her story which he did."

"So where is this Acnologia now?" Natsu asked, "Maybe he knows where Igneel and Grandeeny are."

"I'm afraid that I do not know, he never said where he was going after the funeral and even if I did I would not tell you," Roubaul told him frankly.

"What why not?"

"Because Acnologia truly despises dragons of any kind," Roubaul answered calmly. "If you seek him out he will no doubt smell Grandeeny and Igneel upon and will kill you. His hatred burns so great there is no reasoning with him, on the subject of dragons in any way."

Natsu opened his mouth to yell again but Roubaul cut him off.

"Acnologia is far too powerful, even reincarnates with dragon slaying Noble Phantasms fell to him. You would stand on chance young dragon slayer." Roubaul breathed out deeply "Anyway back to the story, with the Dragons wiped out there was a period of well…silence, everyone in the world seemed rather surprised and nothing happened for a little while but then, eventually people saw the great power vacuum left behind by the extinction of the dragons and wars broke out immediately to fill it. Seeing wars that were tearing the world apart I created Nirvana hoping to end it all and bring peace."

"I heard, about that, a period of strife four hundred years ago, countries and kingdoms collapsed in the fighting." Lucy commented "knowing this it all makes sense."

"I would do so by reversing the morality of those whose minds were set on the destruction of others. We made our home there and we took great joy in what we had accomplished through peace. We were a shining beacon of light in a once dark and shadowy world."

"However despite our best intentions, we cannot change the fact that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Nirvana had brought light to what was once darkness not by chasing it away but absorbing it so to speak.

The alliance gulped, knowing where the story was going.

"The world yearns for balance and order; the light serves no purpose without the darkness and vice versa. Light is born from darkness and darkness is born from light. The two are forever intertwined."

"Yeah, that's exactly how it played out for us..." Gray mumbled as he thought back to the changes of both Hoteye and Cosmos.

"All of the World Evil, taken from the people whose hearts were consumed by it, was transferred to the peace-loving Nirvits." Roubaul continued.

"It was..." Wendy mumbled in fear as she knew what would happen next.

"It was a nightmare," Roubaul said, thinking back to that day. "We were engulfed in rage and slaughtered each other until we were extinct. That's not true... I alone survived. After that, I sealed Nirvana away before I died. As I said my body ceased to function all those years ago what you see before you now is a projection of the man I once was."

Wendy gasped, she hadn't noticed at all. But Shirou looked down shamefully

"As punishment for my sins, I, this powerless spirit, have stood as sentinel over my creation for four hundred years, keeping my weary eyes open for the one who could, at last, destroy Nirvana and consign it to pages of history." A small smile graced his lips as he looked towards Lucy. "And now, my post can be vacated for that person has been found."

"No... why didn't you tell me?" Wendy asked. The master glowed softly before the members started to fade away.

"What's happening? Don't go!"

"You can't just leave!" Carla shouted.

"Maguna! Pepel!" Wendy cried out called out the names of the members that disappeared.

"Everyone's just disappearing?" Hibiki asked in shock.

"Why are you doing this?" Wendy asked as they continued to vanish before her eyes. "Please don't go!"

"I've deceived you, Wendy," Roubaul said sadly. "For that, I am truly sorry. All of your fellow guild members were nothing but spectres, they were nothing but illusions."

"Are you kidding me?" Natsu yelled with surprise.

"Illusions with their own personalities?" Lyon asked Jura asked.

"That requires serious magic power," Jura stated

"For many years, I was alone in this village keeping a watchful eye over Nirvana," Roubaul explained as the last of the members faded away. "Until one day, a boy came to me with a companion needing help. His eyes burned such intensity and sincerity that I had no choice but to take the little girl in. I had resigned myself to a life of solitude, but there she was."

"I filled the village with apparitions so she wouldn't be alone." Roubaul explained, "Of course I didn't count on Shirou."

"Shirou?"

"Don't be harsh upon her Wendy." Roubaul implored her "Yes Shirou figured out the truth and that I was indeed a spirit and your fellow guildmates were illusions but I forced her to swear not to tell you the truth, I didn't wish you for you to feel lonely or as if you had to leave because I was long dead."

Wendy looked down unsure what to think, Carla wandered closer to the child trying to comfort her.

"Besides, when you told me about being a child of Grandeeny I couldn't let you leave and be alone I owed a great debt to her after all."

"Everyone I care for isn't real!?" Wendy cried out tearfully, grasping her head and shaking it in disbelief. "How could you do something so cruel to me master?!"

"Calm down my dear," Roubaul said reassuringly as he started to fade himself. "Neither you nor Carla or Shirou need those imaginary friends anymore." He pointed to the people behind her. "You are surrounded by real friends who care for you." "A bright future awaits you, your life is just beginning, embrace it with open arms."

A chucked left him as Wendy ran towards him as he finally faded away. "Master!"

"To each and every one of you I owe my deepest gratitude, I know I can leave, Wendy, Carla and Shirou in your hands," Roubaul said as he finally vanished completely.

"MASTER!" Wendy cried out sorrowfully as she fell to her knees, the tears flowing from eyes unrestrained now.

Eventually, Erza approached the crying girl and knelt down placing her had on her shoulder.

"I know all too well, the pain of losing loved ones." Erza thought, not of Jellal ho walked away to his new job, but of Galahad who sacrificed himself or her at the Tower of heaven all those years ago, Simon murdered by Ultear controlling Jellal. Of Tristian who left Camelot, of Merlin who simply never returned and even of her bastard child, Mordred, whom she mutually killed on that Hill at Camlann. "But you'll heal, we'll help you, come with us to Fairy Tail."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Makarov cried out as Mirajane hit the floor battered and bruised, her Satan form having long since been beaten out of her. Flare stood there with a devious smirk on her face, sporting bruises where Mirajane had gotten a few decent shots in. But in the end, it had been enough.

"Mirajane, your no match for her, please just get away." Makarov pleaded.

Flare grinned at this and prepared to finish it when a male voice echoed throughout the guild hall.

"You've got guts, you're a little girl no matter how you slice it but you're a brave one, so I can't just leave you."

"Who are you?" Flare asked narrowing her eyes and looking around.

"Who am I? Look at me and you'll know Rider." A figure appeared in the door, with blue hair and wearing a blue bodysuit.

"Lancer," Flare growled with irritation.

"I actually go by God Serena these days!" God Serena yelled leaping towards the stage, landed next to Mirajane and briefly spoke to her "I'm impressed you held out this long." He then continued his jump straight at Flare his clenched fist engulfed in a copious amount of fire. "Purgatory Dragons." Taking advantage of her surprise he drove the fist into the underside of her chin "Blazing Hell!" And promptly uppercut the gorgon, engulfing her in a large fireball and sending her crashing through the ceiling.

"I stayed in town with Laxus to sample of the drinks here, is it true Fairy Tail has your own special whiskey brand if so I'd like to try it."

"Of course," Makarov said crying tears of joy "I-

"Hold that thought old man." God Serena cut him as he stared up through the hole before jumping into the air.

Suddenly the sounds of screaming mixed with burning became filled the guild hall as the fireball that was flare came back down the hole only to be scissor kicked by God Serena and sent crashing out of the front door. She flew and skipped like a flaming stone across the water of the nearby ocean only to stop as she crashed into a cliff upon a beach on the opposite side of the town and was covered by rubble which fell upon her from the broken cliff.

"You know, Medusa wasn't this way when we met in the Grail War. She was loyal to her master, but only did horrible things because he forced her too." God Serena commented as he watched the rubble begin to twitch. "Otherwise she struck me as the type who would only do cruel thing out of necessity rather than because she could."

"So why is she doing this then?" Makarov asked as he tended to Mirajane "Why would she help Ivan do these evil things?"

"I wasn't just sitting on my ass watching the show I was analysing her from a distance and I can tell that she's under the influence of a spell." God Serena stated "A rather nasty one invented by Zeref himself, it twists the personalities of reincarnates making them take on the personality to that of an _Alternative_ version of themselves, even if that version never really existed. But only a strong wizard can cast it, and it needs to be recast every so often or they'll revert to the way they were original which spells trouble for the caster. If Medusa ever breaks free I don't think your son is long for this world. But what troubles me is how he overcame her B ranked Magic Resistance in order to cast the spell successfully."

"Ivan," Makarov growled.

"Welp I'd better go and finish this." With that God, Serena leapt away to pursue his foe.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After breaking free from the rubbing Flare rubbing her head and growled at the burn marks which now covered her body. The flames had been put out by both the ocean water and the smothering rubble. However, before she could stand up she summoned Harpe and quickly blocked a red spear which came down upon her.

"Why do you help these pitiful humans?" She asked with irritation.

"Don't go forgetting you're one of those pitiful humans now." God Serena replied "Besides I'm a hero, its what we do. Right now we're at an impasse."

Flare was about to retort when she felt a powerful magic energy getting closer.

"You sensed it didn't you?" God Serena asked with a smirk. "Goldilocks is on her way home, you have two choices, either undo the spell and turn those people back to normal and run away with your tail between your legs or Goldilocks turns you into a pincushion and breaks the spell herself. What'll it be?"

"How do I know you won't kill me anyway after I do?" Flare asked as God Serena backed off and stood up.

"You don't but you know that you can trust my word more than I can trust yours. Tick tock, she's getting closer."

"Fine." Flare conceded, her eyes flashed and a loud commotion came from the Fairy Tail guild hall.

God Serena glanced in its direction and she took the opportunity, she summoned the Pegasus and fled.

"Just hang in there Medusa, you'll be free one day." He said with a sigh as watched after her as she flew away.


End file.
